Maternal Obesity and Neural Tube Defects - A Malaysian Perspective (Interim Analysis)
Published: 2020-06-24
Page: 50-60
Issue: 2020 - Volume 3 [Issue 1]
Thee Li Jing *
Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Johor Bharu, Johor, Malaysia.
Nisha Angela Dominic
Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Johor Bharu, Johor, Malaysia.
Sindhupriya Periasamy
Royal North Shore Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
Rohadarshine Mahenthiran
Canberra Hospital, Australia Capital Territory, Australia.
Ravichandran Jeganathan
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
Valliammai Jayanthi Thirunavuk Arasoo
Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Johor Bharu, Johor, Malaysia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aim: To determine the incidence of maternal obesity and maternal characteristics of Malaysian women with neural tube defects (NTD)-affected pregnancy.
Methods: This was a single-center retrospective analysis involving women with NTD-affected pregnancy in Sultanah Aminah Hospital from the Johor Bharu region of Malaysia in year 2015. Subjects’ body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) during their first antenatal visit was obtained and categorized into six groups: underweight (<18.50), normal weight (18.50-24.99), overweight (25-29.99), obesity Class I (30-34.99), obesity Class II (35-39.99) or obesity Class III(≥40). Data on maternal characteristics including age, ethnicity, gravidity, period of amenorrhea (POA) at booking and diabetic status was also collected.
Results: There were a total of 17 subjects with NTD-related pregnancy, providing an incidence of 1.2 per 1000 deliveries. The most common NTD diagnosis was anencephaly (n=9;52.9%). Mean age of the subjects was 30±4.7 years. The majority of subjects were Malay ethnicity (58.5%), multigravida (70.6%), has a booking of less than 20 weeks of POA (82.4%) and non-diabetics (52.9%). Mean and standard deviation of the subject’s BMI was 25.45±5.07 kg/m2. The distribution of under-to-normal weight (BMI < 25), overweight and obese classification were 53%, 29.4% and 17.6% respectively.
Conclusion: The incidence of maternal obesity in women with NTD-affected pregnancy was 17.6% from the study population. Almost half of the subjects were under- and normal weight.
As this is an interim analysis, a bigger sample is required to provide a deeper understanding on the effect of maternal obesity and NTDs.
Keywords: Maternal obesity, neural tube defects, congenital anomaly, pregnancy