(766) Maternal age at first delivery and long-term ophthalmic morbidity of the mother

Friday, January 31, 2025

10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Submitting Author and Presenting Author(s)

Gil Gutvirtz, MD

Soroka University Medical Center
Metar, HaDarom, Israel

Coauthor(s)

Eyal Sheiner, MD, PhD

Head of department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Beer Sheva, HaDarom, Israel
Tamar Wainstock, PhD (she/her/hers)

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Beer Sheva, HaDarom, Israel
RS

Ruslan Sergienko, MHA

Data Science, Statistical Programming & Analysis, Advanced Data Management
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Beer Sheva, HaDarom, Israel
ET

Erez Tsumi, MD

Soroka
Beer-Sheva, HaDarom, Israel
RK

Roy Kessous, MD, PhD

Soroka
Beer-Sheva, HaDarom, Israel

Objective: Advanced maternal age has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Complications such as hypertensive disorders, preterm delivery and low birthweight suggest that maternal age is a crucial determinant of vascular adaptation to pregnancy. Few studies have examined these associations with mothers long-term outcome. We investigated the impact of maternal age at first delivery on long-term ophthalmic morbidity

Study Design: A population-based retrospective cohort study of women who delivered between the years 1991-2021 at a tertiary center was conducted. Maternal age at first delivery was divided into 4 categories (< 30 years, between 30-35, 35-40 and >40 at first delivery). The long-term ophthalmic morbidity was compared based on data from both community and hospitalization records involving an ophthalmic morbidity. A Kaplan–Meier survival curve was used to compare the cumulative incidence of ophthalmic morbidity and a Cox regression model was constructed to control for confounders, comparing the groups of maternal age over 30 to a reference group of women under 30

Results: A total of 76,131 women were included in the study. 69,530 (91.3%) were under 30 years in their first delivery, 5,066 (6.7%) were between 30-35, 1,231 (1.6%) were between 35-40 and 304 (0.4%) were over 40 years old. The cumulative incidence of ophthalmic morbidity over time was higher as maternal age was older in the first delivery (Figure). A trend of increased ophthalmic morbidity was noted as maternal age was older but it did not reach a statistical significance (3.7%, 3.6%, 4.1% and 6.3%, p=0.08). The Cox regression model, controlling for fertility treatments and ethnicity, found a dose dependent effect as maternal age in the first delivery was an independent risk factor for long-term ophthalmic morbidity of the mother as compared with women under 30 years old (Table)

Conclusion: Advanced maternal age at first delivery is an independent risk factor for long-term ophthalmic morbidity of the mother. The risk tends to increase in a dose-response manner over age 30, and specifically for patients over 40 in their first delivery