Antenatal corticosteroid therapy (ACT) and size at birth: A population-based analysis using the Finnish Medical Birth Register.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antenatal corticosteroid therapy (ACT) is used clinically to prepare the fetal lung for impending preterm birth, but animal and human studies link corticosteroids to smaller birth size. Whether ACT is associated with birth size is debated; therefore, we assessed differences in birth size in treated versus untreated pregnancies.

Methods and findings

This observational register-based study used data from the Finnish Medical Birth Register (FMBR) covering all births in Finland (January 1, 2006-December 31, 2010). We used unadjusted and adjusted regression analyses as well as propensity score matching (PSM) to analyze whether birth size differed by ACT exposure. PSM provides a stringent comparison, as subsamples were created matched on baseline and medical characteris

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6390995 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature