Congenital Anomalies in Infants in Fukushima from 2011 to 2014: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to assess congenital anomalies among infants from 2011 to 2014 in Fukushima and compare the assessment with that from other geographical regions in Japan. METHODS: We used the dataset of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS), which is a nationwide prospective birth cohort study. For the JECS, participants were recruited through 15 regional centers (RC), including Fukushima. Pregnant women were recruited between January 2011 and March 2014. The Fukushima RC recruited all municipalities in the Fukushima Prefecture, from where we compared congenital anomalies in infants from the Fukushima RC to those in the infants from 14 other RCs. Crude and multivariate logistic regression analyses were also performed, with the multivariate logistic regression analysis being adjusted for maternal age, maternal body mass index (kg/m(2)), infertility treatment, multiple pregnancies, maternal smoking, maternal alcohol consumption, pregnancy complications, maternal infection, and infant sex. RESULTS: In the Fukushima RC, 12,958 infants were analyzed, and 324 infants were diagnosed with major anomalies (2.50%). In the remaining 14 RCs, 88,771 infants were analyzed and 2,671 infants were diagnosed with major anomalies (3.01%). Crude logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the odds ratio for the Fukushima RC was 0.827 (95% confidence interval, 0.736-0.929) using the other 14 RCs as a reference. Multivariate logistic regression analysis also demonstrated that the adjusted odds ratio was 0.852 (95% confidence interval, 0.757-0.958). CONCLUSIONS: Fukushima Prefecture was found not to be an area at high risk for the occurrence of congenital anomalies in infants compared nationwide in Japan from 2011 to 2014.