Objective: To evaluate time trend of gastroschisis and examine the epidemiological risk factors for gastroschisis.
Study design: This population-based study analyzed the active surveillance data from the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program from 1987 to 2003.
Results: The overall birth prevalence of gastroschisis was 2.6 cases per 10,000 births (908 cases in >3.5 million births). In the adjusted analysis, by using the age of 25 to 29 years as the reference, mothers aged 12 to 15 years had a 4.2-times greater birth prevalence (95% CI, 2.5-7.0), and fathers aged 16 to 19 years and 20 to 24 years had 1.6- and 1.5-times greater birth prevalence (95% CI, 1.1-2.1 and 1.2-1.8), respectively. Compared with non-Hispanic whites and US-born Hispanic, both foreign-born Hispanics and blacks had adjusted prevalence ratio of 0.6 (95% CI, 0.5-0.7 and 0.4-0.9, respectively). In addition, nulliparity was also associated with gastroschisis. Independent of maternal age, paternal age, and maternal ethnicity, the birth prevalence increased 3.2-fold (95% CI, 2.3-4.3) during the 17-year study period.
Conclusions: The birth prevalence of gastroschisis continues to increase in California, and young, nulliparous women are at the greatest risk of having a child with gastroschisis.