Influence of Paternal Age on the Risk of Spontaneous Abortion

Abstract

The frequency of chromosomal anomalies in spermatozoa appears to increase with male age. Because these anomalies play a role in the etiology of spontaneous abortion, an influence of paternal age on risk of spontaneous abortion is plausible but not established. The aim was to characterize this influence in a prospective study among 5,121 California women, who as members of a prepaid health plan were interviewed in 1990 or 1991 when they were less than 13 weeks' pregnant and who were followed until the end of pregnancy. The risk of spontaneous abortion between weeks 6 and 20 of pregnancy was studied using a Cox model adjusted for maternal age. The adjusted hazard ratio of spontaneous abortion associated with paternal age of 35 years or more, compared with less than 35 years, was 1.27 (95% confidence interval: 1.00, 1.61), with no modification by maternal age. Among women aged less than 30 years, the hazard ratio of spontaneous abortion associated with paternal age of 35 years or more was 1.56 for first trimester spontaneous abortion and 0.87 for early second trimester spontaneous abortion (test of interaction, p = 0.25). In conclusion, the risk of spontaneous abortion increased with increasing paternal age, with a suggestion that the association is stronger for first trimester losses.

Genetic Considerations in Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

“…Only recently have studies begun to show possible connections between increased paternal age and both sporadic and recurrent pregnancy loss (Slama et al 2005;de La Rochebrochard et al 2006;Kleinhaus et al 2006;Puscheck and Jeyendran 2007). Data addressing paternal age and fetal aneuploidy, however, is extremely varied and conflicting.…”

Advanced paternal age and reproductive outcome

“…47 Spontaneous abortions A case-control study of 13 865 women found that increasing paternal age is significantly associated with spontaneous abortion, independent of maternal age and multiple other factors. 54 Slama et al 55 observed that the risk of spontaneous abortion was almost twice higher among men aged .45 years than among those aged ,25 years. Paternal age of .40 years becomes relevant concerning miscarriages when the woman was .30 years old.…”

Paternal age and reproduction

“…Boxplots along the top and right side indicate data distribution according to each axis (with permission from Slama et al, 2005). risk of spontaneous miscarriage was attributed to maternal and paternal age to the same extent (Selvin and Garfinkel, 1976) with maternal and paternal effects being linear, although reproductive age patterns are usually represented as J-or U-shaped curves (Nybo Andersen et al, 2000;de la Rochebrochard and Thonneau, 2002).…”

“…Unexpectedly this difference was only seen among couples in which the woman's age was ,30 years, which could be explained by the fact that maternal risk factors for spontaneous miscarriage might be better controlled by the adjustment for maternal age in younger than older women, in whom other factors, not adjustable by the maternal age, may mask the paternal age effect (Slama et al, 2005). However, retrospective evaluations of spontaneous miscarriages are limited due to an important recall bias (Wilcox and Horney, 1984).…”

“…A prospective study among 5121 Californian women analyzed 4645 live births and 491 spontaneous miscarriages that occurred after six completed gestational weeks (Slama et al, 2005). After adjustment for tobacco use as well as female alcohol and caffeine consumption, the hazard ratio of spontaneous miscarriage associated with paternal age of 35 years or more (compared with ,35 years) was 1.27 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.61) with no modification by maternal age.…”