Objective: To investigate the incidence and its secular trends of gastroschisis in Chinese perinatal infants.
Methods: Data on perinatal infants was collected at hospitals under surveillance program in Chinese Birth Defects Monitoring Network from 1996 to 2007. Data on incidence, trend and related factors of gastroschisis in perinatal infants were carried out. Both χ(2) test and Poisson regression model were used to test the differences between residential areas, sex and maternal age. Both χ(2) trends test and Poisson regression model were applied to analyze the trends.
Results: A total of 6 308 594 perinatal infants were monitored during 1996 - 2007, including 1601 infants with gastroschisis to show the incidence as 2.54 per 10 000 births. The overall prevalence of gastroschisis in China did not change remarkably during the period of our research. The incidence rates of gastroschisis were significantly different between urban and rural areas, between different sex and different maternal age groups. The incidence of gastroschisis was lower in urban area than in rural area (RR = 0.58) and lower in female fetuses than in male fetuses (RR = 0.76), highest in the group younger than 20 years of age, which was 11.43 times than incidence of the 30 - 34 age group (RR = 11.432).
Conclusion: The overall prevalence of gastroschisis in China did not show remarkable change during 1996 - 2007 but the incidence of gastroschisis a bit increased in the area of study and significant differences were seen in different sex, regions and maternal age groups. Mothers aged younger than 20 years old appeared to be a significant risk factor for the occurrence of gastroschisis.