title: The Association between Sex and Long-Term Pediatric Cardiovascular Morbidity.
abstract: To evaluate the association between sex and long-term pediatric cardiovascular morbidity.
  
  
  
  A population-based cohort study was performed that compared the risk of long-term cardiovascular morbidity (up to the age of 18 years) of children according to sex. Deliveries occurred between the years 1991 and 2013 in a tertiary medical center. Multiple pregnancies and fetal congenital malformations were excluded. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed to compare cumulative cardiovascular morbidity incidence. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to control for confounders, including gestational age at birth, birth weight, and maternal factors.
  
  
  
  During the study period, 240 953 newborns met the inclusion criteria and were included in the long-term analysis. Of them, 51.0% (n = 122 840) were male and 49.0% (n = 118 113) female. Cardiovascular morbidity up to the age of 18 years was significantly more common in male as compared with female newborns (0.3% vs 0.2%, OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.12-1.57, P = .001). In the Cox regression model, male sex exhibited an independent association with long-term cardiovascular morbidity with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.37 (95% CI 1.16-1.63, P <.001).
  
  
  
  Male newborns are at an increased risk for pediatric cardiovascular morbidity independent of gestational age at birth and birth weight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. Electronic address: sheiner@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sheiner
authors.affiliation: The Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wainstock
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Landau
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Asnat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Walfisch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001724:Birth Weight; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Arrhythmia; Boys; Epidemiology; Heart disease; Pregnancy