Department of Defense Birth Defects Registry Report for the Period: January 1, 1999 Through June 30, 1999
Abstract
Major birth defects occur in 3-5% of the population and are responsible for 21% of infant deaths in the United States. They have become the leading cause of infant mortality and are the sixth leading cause of potential life lost. Monitoring birth defects is essential and consistent with the military's desire to provide the best health care for families. As the proportion of women in the military has increased, many questions have been raised regarding their reproductive health, including the risk of having a child with birth defects. Tracking demographic and response data is vital to identifying defect clusters and to establish causal relationships between congenital defects and teratogens. On January 1, 1999, the Department of Defense established a Birth Defects Registry at the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California. This registry combines health record abstraction (active surveillance) with screening of Department of Defense electronic medical data (passive surveillance), to create a cost-effective surveillance program for the geographically dispersed military population. This first Birth Defect Registry Report documents surveillance findings through June 30, 1999. In the future, annual reports will be published in June and cover the previous calendar year. During this six-month period, 46,171 live births were delivered to Department of Defense families. Among these infants, 4.4% (95% CI, 4.3-4.6) were diagnosed with one or more of 45 major congenital malformations. Cardiovascular malformations were the most common defects. Male infants had a higher proportion of any type of congenital malformations than female infants (56.9% vs. 43.2%). Babies from Marine Corps families had an unadjusted higher proportion of major birth defects (4.7%) compared with those of other branches of the uniformed services.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA377904
Entities
People
- Gregory C. Gray
- Melody A. Pershyn-kisor
- Ruth A. Bush
- Tyler Clain Smith
- William K. Honner
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center