Birthweight and coronary heart disease in a cohort born 1857-1900 in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Background: The widely observed association between birth size and risk of later coronary heart disease (CHD) has not been examined in an impoverished pre-20th century birth cohort. Methods: Birth weights and maternal characteristics, for births between 1857 and 1900 in a charity hospital, were recorded from preserved ledgers. Names were linked to death certificates to determine age and cause of death. Death with CHD was coded using specific criteria, and survival analysis methods were used to relate risk of CHD to birth weight, allowing for competing causes of death and adjusting for potentially confounding maternal factors. Results: Death certificates were traced for 8584 (53%) of 16 272 r..