Using birth certificates to find children conceived with infertility treatment

虽然先前的研究表明抗逆转录病毒治疗和/或促排卵药物与不良围产期结局风险增加有关，但现有证据尚无定论。这种不足部分是由于单个作者可用的样本量有限。在美国，由于缺乏合适的登记或抽样框架，进行足够规模的基于人口的研究的能力受到损害。我们使用马萨诸塞州出生证明的数据来评估使用出生证明作为抽样框架来识别在生育治疗帮助下出生的儿童的可行性。在2493份抽样的出生证明中，584名母亲被找到并同意参与。参与状况在人口统计学或出生特征方面几乎没有差别。

Although prior research is suggestive that ART therapies and/or ovulation inducing drugs are associated with an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes, the available evidence is inconclusive. The insufficiency stems in part from the limited sample sizes available to individual authors. The ability to do population-based research of adequate size is impaired by the absence of a suitable registry or sampling framework for study in the United States. We used data from the Massachusetts birth certificate to assess the feasibility of using birth certificates as a sampling frame for identifying children born with the help of fertility treatment. Of the 2,493 birth certificates that were sampled, 584 mothers were located and agreed to participate. There were virtually no differences in demographic or birth characteristics by participation status.