title: Rate of preterm birth in pregnant women with vitamin E treatment: a population-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Vitamin E is frequently used for prevention/treatment of repeated or threatened abortion and threatened preterm delivery in Hungarian pregnant women, though, internationally this old-fashion method is not recommended.
  
  
  METHODS
  The rate of preterm birth of newborns in pregnant women with high dose (estimated daily dose 450 mg) vitamin E treatment or without this treatment was compared in the population-based large data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance System of Congenital Abnormalities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 38,151 newborns with any defect, 2,287 (6.0%) had mothers with vitamin E treatment. Pregnant women with vitamin E treatment had very high rate of threatened abortion (43.6% vs. 15.4%) and high rate of threatened preterm delivery (27.5% vs. 13.4%) compared to pregnant women without vitamin E treatment. Nevertheless, the gestational age at delivery was 0.2 week longer and rate of preterm births was lower in the newborns of pregnant women with vitamin E treatment (6.6% vs. 9.3%; adjusted OR with 95% CI: 0.71, 0.63-0.84). This preterm preventive effect of vitamin E treatment could not be explained by known confounders, though folic acid/multivitamins also reduced the rate of preterm birth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study showed nearly 30% reduction in preterm births of pregnant women with vitamin E treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Elisabeth Teaching Hospital, Sopron, Hungary.
authors.forename: Liza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bártfai
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bártfai
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nedeczky
authors.forename: Erzsébet H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Puho
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bánhidy
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Czeizel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D037841:Pregnant People; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014810:Vitamin E