Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34999879›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2022

Grandmothers' endocrine disruption during pregnancy, low birth weight, and preterm birth in third generation.

Gyeyoon Yim, Andrea Roberts, David Wypij, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Marc G Weisskopf

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Obstetric Pharmacoethics: An ethical framework for obstetric pharmacology.European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Article
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

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Gyeyoon YimDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8923-9485
Andrea RobertsDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
David WypijDepartment of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Marianthi-Anna KioumourtzoglouDepartment of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Marc G WeisskopfDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Harvard University · USBoston Children's Hospital · USColumbia University · US

Funding

True Metal fac coreP30ES009089 · NIEHS · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI MATTHEW S PERZANOWSKI · 1998 to 2026
$44.7M
Translational Research Support CoreP30ES000002 · NIEHS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI JAIME ELIZABETH HART · 1985 to 2026
$44.6M
Maternal Exposure to Childhood Abuse and Disparities in Offspring Neurodevelopment: Identifying MechanismsR01HD094725 · NICHD · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI ANDREA L. ROBERTS, ANDREA L. ROBERTS ANDREA L. ROBERTS · 2019 to 2024
$3.9M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD094725NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES000002NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES009089
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDiethylstilbestrol (DES) is an endocrine-disrupting pharmaceutical prescribed to pregnant women to prevent pregnancy complications between the 1940s and 1970s. Although DES has been shown in animal studies to have multigenerational effects, only two studies have investigated potential multigenerational effects in humans on preterm birth (PTB), and none on low birthweight (LBW)-major determinants of later life health.

methodsNurses' Health Study (NHS) II participants (G1; born 1946-64) reported their mothers' (G0) use of DES while pregnant with them. We used cluster-weighted generalized estimating equations to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for risk of LBW and PTB among the grandchildren by grandmother use of DES. G1 birthweight and gestational age were considered to explore confounding by indication.

resultsAmong 54 334 G0-G1/grandmother-mother pairs, 973 (1.8%) G0 used DES during pregnancy with G1. Of the 128 275 G2 children, 4369 (3.4%) were LBW and 7976 (6.2%) premature. Grandmother (G0) use of DES during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of G2 LBW [adjusted OR (aOR) = 3.09; 95% CI: 2.57, 3.72], that was reduced when restricted to term births (aOR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.08, 2.36). The aOR for PTB was 2.88 (95% CI: 2.46, 3.37). Results were essentially unchanged when G1 birthweight and gestational age were included in the model, as well as after adjusting for other potential intermediate variables, such as G2 pregnancy-related factors.

conclusionsGrandmother use of DES during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of LBW, predominantly through an increased risk of PTB. Results when considering G1 birth outcomes suggest this does not result from confounding by indication.

Indexed as

GrandparentsPremature BirthBirth WeightFemaleGestational AgeHumansInfant, Low Birth WeightInfant, NewbornPregnancyRisk Factorsbirth outcomesconfounding by indicationDiethylstilbestrolendocrine disrupting chemicalgermline cellslow birthweightmultigenerational effectsprenatal exposurespreterm birthpreterm delivery

Identifiers

PMID34999879
PMCPMC8743108
OpenAlexW3148924748

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.