Using birth certificates to find children conceived with infertility treatment

尽管先前的研究表明，抗逆转录病毒治疗和/或促排卵药物与增加不良围产期结局的风险有关，但现有证据尚不确定。不足的部分原因是作者个人可获得的样本数量有限。由于在美国没有适当的研究登记或抽样框架，进行适当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通过生育治疗出生的孩子的可行性。在抽样的2493份出生证明中，有584名母亲被找到并同意参与。在人口统计或出生特征方面，几乎没有按参与状态的差异。

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.