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The association between fetal gender in twin pregnancies and the risk of pediatric infectious diseases of the offspring: A population-based cohort study with long-term follow up

Journal of Perinatology volume 42, pages 1587–1591 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

We aimed to study the association between fetal gender in twin pregnancies and the risk for childhood infectious morbidity of the offspring.

Study design

A population-based cohort analysis was performed comparing total and subtypes of infectious related pediatric hospitalizations among males versus females offspring of twin pregnancies. The analysis included all dichorionic twins born between the years 1991–2021. A Kaplan–Meier survival curve was used to compare the cumulative infectious morbidity incidence, and a Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to adjust for confounders.

Results

The study population included 4222 newborns (2111 males and 2111 females). Males had higher rates of infectious-related hospitalizations using a Cox proportional hazards model, an independent association was shown between male gender and infectious related hospitalizations of the offspring (Adjusted HR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1–1.4; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Male gender in twin pregnancies is associated with an increased risk for long-term pediatric infectious morbidity.

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Fig. 1: Red- Males Blue- Females.

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Data availability

Data is available to review upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Noa Leybovitz-Haleluya, Eyal Sheiner & Gali Pariente

  2. The Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Tamar Wainstock

Authors
  1. Noa Leybovitz-Haleluya
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  2. Eyal Sheiner
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  3. Gali Pariente
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  4. Tamar Wainstock
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Contributions

All authors on the manuscript contributed to the concept, design, results interpretation, and drafting of the manuscript. LHN wrote the first draft of the manuscript. No honorarium, grant, or other form of payment was given to anyone to produce the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Noa Leybovitz-Haleluya.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The study received the approval of the Institutional Review Board Committee of the Soroka University Medical Center (IRB # 0357-19-SOR).

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Leybovitz-Haleluya, N., Sheiner, E., Pariente, G. et al. The association between fetal gender in twin pregnancies and the risk of pediatric infectious diseases of the offspring: A population-based cohort study with long-term follow up. J Perinatol 42, 1587–1591 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01448-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-022-01448-9

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