Jian Liu
Professor, Brock University, Canada
Title: Maternal Education And Elevated Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Levels In Newborns
Biography
Biography: Jian Liu
Abstract
Objective: to examine the relationship between neonatal thyroid function and the formal education of mothers.
Study design: Participants came from a population-based congenital hypothyroidism (CH) screening program in Tianjin, China.
Methods: Of 66,390 registered births in 2015, 60,568 mothers and newborns had complete data. Mothers were assigned to one of four categories based on their educational attainment: a) mid-school or less; b) high school or equivalent; c) university; or d) post graduate. Newborn (thyroid-stimulating hormone) TSH level was measured on day 3-7. Two neonatal groups were created using cutoffs of TSH >10 μIU/ml and TSH >20 μIU/ml. Odds ratios (OR) for CH risk by maternal education were estimated from logistic regression models after adjusting for potential confounders.
Results: For TSH >10 μIU/ml, the screen positive incidence rate for CH was 1:201 or 4.98 per 1,000 births; for TSH>20 μIU/ml, the incidence rate was 1:2,222 or 0.45 per 1,000 births. Screen positive incidence rates decreased with increasing maternal education level. Compared to mothers with a post-graduate education, the ORs (95% CI) for mid-school or less, high-school or equivalent, and university were 2.09 (1.08, 4.04), 1.45 (0.73, 2.90), and 1.61 (0.85, 3.06) using a cutoff of TSH >10 μIU/ml. At the higher cutoff of TSH>20 μIU/ml ORs (95% CI) for mid-school or less and high-school or equivalent were 3.05 (1.20, 7.74) and 3.34 (1.24, 8.97), compared to a composite reference of university and post-graduate level education.
Conclusion: Maternal education is inversely related to neonatal thyroid function though by what mechanism remains unexplained.