ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2024
Preconception folic acid supplementation for the prevention of birth defects: a prospective, population-based cohort study in mainland China.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2024. 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.
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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Folic acid supplementation during preconception period in sub-Saharan African countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Association of premarital medical check-ups and folic acid knowledge, attitudes, and practices with the occurrence of neural tube defects in Guangxi, China (2009-2023).Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Prevalence of Multivitamin/Folic Acid Intake, Diabetes, and Other Risk Factors for Birth Defects Among Women in the United States, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, 2017-2022.Birth defects research · 2026Article
- A multicountry, multicenter report to identify nutritional risks in female populations using the FIGO Nutrition Checklist.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- Maternal red blood cell folate and vitamin B metabolism with pregnancy outcomes: a retrospective study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Article
- Effects of folic acid supplementation before conception on innate immunity and anti-HBs levels of offspring born to HBsAg-positive mothers.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Supplementation with Folic Acid or 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate and Prevention of Neural Tube Defects: An Evidence-Based Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFolic acid supplementation is recommended for reducing the risk of birth defects. We aimed to assess the protective association of periconception folic acid supplements with birth defects in real-world setting.
methodsThis prospective, population-based cohort study utilized national preconception registered data of married Chinese couples planning a pregnancy within 6 months between 2010 and 2012 in Mainland China. Participated women are freely provided folic acid starting 3 months before conception till 3 months after conception. Birth defects were self-reported at 42 days postpartumn followup. R software (v4.0.2) was applied for statistical analyses.
resultsComplete data of 567,547 couples with pregnancy outcomes and folic acid supplementation were extracted for final analysis. A total of 74.7% women were with folic acid supplementation, and 599 birth defects were self-reported. The odd of birth defects was lower among women taking folic acid compared to their counterparts not taking (0.102% vs 0.116%, P < 0.001). In the multiple logistic regression analyses, the odd of birth defects was lower among couples with maternal folic acid supplementation (OR = 0.78, 95%CI: 0.66-0.95, P = 0.011), especially decreased odd of neural tube defects (NTDs) (OR = 0.56, 95%CI: 0.39-0.82, P = 0.003). This association was confirmed by 1:4 and 1:10 case control analysis. Odds of birth defects were significantly lower among women with folic acid supplementation more than 3 months before pregnancy (P < 0.001), and moreover, the odds of cleft (P = 0.007) and NTDs (P = 0.007) were of notable decrease.
conclusionThis retrospective case cohort study provides programmatic evidence for public health strategy-making to for reducing the risk of NTDs and clefts.
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