Prenatal stress and risk of spontaneous abortion.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between exposure to life-threatening rocket attacks and spontaneous abortions (SAs).


METHODS
This is a historical cohort study comparing 1345 pregnancies of female residents of a town exposed to rocket attacks with 2143 pregnancies of female residents of an unexposed town. Demographic and medical data were obtained from hospital records and exposure information from official local databases. Intensity of exposure was calculated for preconception and pregnancy periods.


RESULTS
Compared with unexposed group, women in the exposed group had higher rates of SA (6.9% versus 4.7%, adjusted odds ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval = 1.17-2.2, p = .003). Intensity of preconception and pregnancy exposure were nonlinearly associated with SA risk; both the highest and the lowest quintiles of exposure were associated with increased risk of SA.


CONCLUSIONS
Stress during preconception and pregnancy was associated with increased risk of SA.
Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. wainstoc@post.bgu.ac.il
Tamar
T
Wainstock
Liat
L
Lerner-Geva
Saralee
S
Glasser
Ilana
I
Shoham-Vardi
Eyal Y
EY
Anteby
D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult