The long-term risk of cardiovascular disease and related outcomes in mothers and their preterm born offspring

Today, >95% of preterm born children reach adulthood, which calls for better risk assessments and long-term preventive care of these persons. Mothers who deliver preterm may have higher CVD risks but the reported risks of CVD in their adult offspring is conflicting. Therefore, there is a need for studies that analyze long-term CVD risks by PTB subtype on large sample sizes in order to achieve high statistical power. We propose to conduct the first comprehensive studies of PTB and its subtypes in relation to CVD risks among mothers and their adult offspring and we will include data on all ~2.3 million births to ~1.2 million mothers in Sweden during 1973-1995 and all in- and outpatient diagnoses of CVD until 2015. Our aims are to: (1) Examine PTB and its subtypes in relation to long-term risks of CVD and CVD-related outcomes in mothers and adult offspring; (2) Determine if there are sociodemographic subgroups that are more susceptible to PTB effects; and (3) Explore potential confounding effects of unmeasured familial factors. The proposed research is significant because PTB is common and unprecedented numbers of survivors are now reaching adulthood. It will provide the first comprehensive examination of PTB and its subtypes in relation to CVD risk among mothers and adult offspring, and use a co-relative design to disentangle familial confounding. The results will inform clinical guidelines for better risk assessment and long-term care in mothers and their PTB offspring.