Medical College of Wisconsin
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Down's syndrome. Recent trends in the United States. JAMA 1981 Aug 14;246(7):758-60

Date

08/14/1981

Pubmed ID

6454794

DOI

10.1001/jama.246.7.758

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0019521471 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   126 Citations

Abstract

The crude incidence of Down's syndrome (DS) in the United States is currently about 1/1,000 births. Reduction in the proportion of births to women 35 years and older can account for a halving of the estimated percentage of DS births to this age group and a drop in the estimated crude incidence of DS from 1.33/1,000 births in 1960 to 0.99/1,000 births in 1978. Epidemiologic studies suggest that among women 35 years and older, the risk of having a child with DS has not changed. With the present distribution of maternal ages, prenatal diagnosis among women 35 years and older can result in no more than a 20% decrease in the crude incidence of DS. With continued use of prenatal diagnosis among older gravidas, upward of 80% of DS births will occur to younger mothers.

Author List

Adams MM, Erickson JD, Layde PM, Oakley GP

Author

Peter M. Layde MS, MD Emeritus Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Down Syndrome
Female
Georgia
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Maternal Age
Middle Aged
Pregnancy, High-Risk
Prenatal Diagnosis
Risk
United States