Using birth certificates to find children conceived with infertility treatment

尽管先前的研究表明ART疗法和/或促排卵药物与不良围产期结局的风险增加有关，但现有的证据并不确定。 不足的部分原因是个别作者可用的样本量有限。 在美国进行足够规模的基于人群的研究的能力由于缺乏适当的登记或抽样研究框架而受到损害。我们使用来自马萨诸塞州出生证明的数据来评估使用出生证明作为识别在生育治疗帮助下出生的儿童的抽样框架的可行性。 在抽查的2 493份出生证明中，找到了584名母亲并同意参加。 参与状况的人口统计学或出生特征几乎没有差异。 目前正在进行与主要目标相关的分析。

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. Analyses related to the primary objectives are currently underway.