Tay J S, Yip W C, Joseph R
J Med Genet. 1982 Dec;19(6):441-3. doi: 10.1136/jmg.19.6.441.
Parental age and birth order were studied in 100 Chinese children with congenital heart disease (proven by cardiac catheterisation) and in 100 controls. A higher incidence of congenital heart disease was present in the children with higher birth orders. No relationship was found between the incidence and the paternal or maternal ages. Using the method of multiple regression analysis this birth order effect was significant (p less than 0.01) and independent of parental age. This finding provides indirect evidence of environmental influence in the causation of congenital heart disease, which is known to be inherited in a multifactorial manner. Family planning to limit the size of the family may possibly contribute to the reduction of the incidence of congenital heart disease.
对100名经心导管检查证实患有先天性心脏病的中国儿童及其100名对照儿童的父母年龄和出生顺序进行了研究。出生顺序较高的儿童患先天性心脏病的发生率更高。未发现发病率与父母年龄之间存在关联。使用多元回归分析方法，这种出生顺序效应具有显著性（p小于0.01），且与父母年龄无关。这一发现为先天性心脏病病因中的环境影响提供了间接证据，已知先天性心脏病是以多因素方式遗传的。计划生育以限制家庭规模可能有助于降低先天性心脏病的发病率。
