ArticleActa obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica2026
Association between history of fertility problems and pregnancy and birth complications: A longitudinal population-based cohort study.
Article in Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionInfertility is a common reproductive health issue, associated with increased risks of pregnancy complications. However, shared underlying risk factors such as age, BMI, PCOS, endometriosis, and lifestyle may partly explain these associations. In a population-based cohort of women, this study aimed to determine whether a history of fertility problems is independently associated with adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, including gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, low birthweight, and preterm birth. MATERIAL AND
methodsThis was a secondary analysis of data from the 1973 to 1978 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, that included surveys from 2003 to 2018 (n = 9854). We examined associations between self-reported fertility problems and four adverse outcomes: gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, low birthweight, and preterm birth. Generalized estimating equations with an exchangeable correlation structure were used, with sequential adjustment for socio-demographic, health, and lifestyle-related characteristics.
resultsAmong 5653 women who reported a live birth, 897 (15.9%) reported a history of fertility problems, of whom 71.6% had sought help. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors alone, there was a statistically significant increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes for women with a history of fertility problems compared to those without. However, after further adjustment for health characteristics and pregnancy-related variables, the associations were no longer statistically significant: gestational diabetes [Relative risk (RR): 0.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.78 to 1.22)], hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [RR: 1.08; 95% CI (0.82 to 1.43)], preterm birth [RR: 1.01; 95% CI (0.81 to 1.26)], or low birthweight [RR: 1.04; 95% CI (0.80 to 1.34)].
conclusionsIn this large cohort of women in Australian, initial associations between fertility problems and adverse pregnancy outcomes were attenuated after adjustment for key health and lifestyle factors. The absence of associations in fully adjusted models suggests that previously reported risks may reflect shared underlying maternal characteristics rather than infertility itself and highlights the importance of cautious interpretation of statistical significance in large observational studies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.