Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33761052›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of epidemiology2021

Parental age and birth defects: a sibling study.

Hans K Hvide, Julian Johnsen, Kjell G Salvanes

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Parental age selection in C. elegans influences progeny stress resistance capacity.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Reproductive axis ageing and fertility in men.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Hans K HvideUniversity of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. hans.hvide@uib.no.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2604-3696
Julian JohnsenSNF-Centre for Applied Research at NHH, Bergen, Norway.
Kjell G SalvanesCEPR, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Higher parental age at childbearing has generated much attention as a potential risk factor for birth disorders; however, previous research findings are mixed. Existing studies have exploited variation in parental age across families, which is problematic because families differ not only in parental age but also in genetic and environmental factors. To isolate the effects of parental age, holding many genetic and environmental factors constant, we exploit the variation in parental age within families and compare outcomes for full siblings. The study data were retrieved from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, which covers the entire population of births in Norway over an extended period (totaling 1.2 million births). Using variation in parental age when siblings were born, we find large and convex effects of increased parental age on the increased risk of birth disorders. To facilitate comparison with the existing literature, we also estimate the effects of parental age using variation in parental age across families and find that the effects are substantially weaker. We conclude that the existing literature may have underestimated the negative effects of parental aging on adverse offspring outcomes.

Indexed as

Maternal AgePaternal AgeSiblingsAdultCongenital AbnormalitiesFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornMaleMiddle AgedNorwayParentsPregnancyRegistriesRisk FactorsSex DistributionBirth disorderCongenital anomaliesParental agingStillbirth

Identifiers

PMID33761052
PMCPMC8416834

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.