Incidence of Down Syndrome by maternal age in Chinese population

Yi Song; Song Jieping; Zhou Tianshu; Zhang Zhijun; Zhang Jingxuan; Wang Bo

doi:10.3389/fgene.2022.980627

Incidence of Down Syndrome by maternal age in Chinese population

Front Genet. 2022 Aug 25:13:980627. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.980627. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yi Song¹, Song Jieping¹, Zhou Tianshu², Zhang Zhijun³, Zhang Jingxuan⁴, Wang Bo¹

Affiliations

¹ Medical Genetics Center, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China.
² The First Clinical College, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China.
³ Department of Reproductive Medical Center, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China.
⁴ Hubei Key Laboratory of Embryonic Stem Cell Research, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to estimate the maternal age-related risk of Down syndrome in an Asian population. Methods: We performed a retrospective data analysis including a total of 206,295 pregnant women who presented for second-trimester maternal serum screening for Down syndrome at Hubei Maternal and Child Health Hospital for the years 2008-2017. Cases were assigned to three groups: ≤26 years of age, 27-33 years of age, and ≥34 years of age. The incidence of Down Syndrome was calculated for each age group. The differences between groups were tested using the chi-square (χ2) test. Results: The incidence of Down syndrome in women ≤26 years of age, 27-33 years of age, and ≥34 years of age was 0.67‰, 0.29‰, and 2.07‰ respectively. Statistically significant difference was found between the three age groups (χ2 = 79.748, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Down syndrome rate was significantly higher in women ≥34 years of age. Younger women (≤26 years of age) had a significantly higher risk for Down's syndrome, compared to women aged 27-33.

Keywords: Asian population; Hubei China; advanced maternal age (AMA); down syndrome; maternal serum screening.