Very low birth weight adult health - a sibling study

We study mechanisms that link preterm birth at very low birth weight with adult health. To do so, we compare adults born preterm at very low birth weight with their siblings born at term.

Background

15 million children are born preterm worldwide annually, and in Finland 3000 births are preterm accounting for 5-6 % of all births. Very low birth weight (less than 1500 grams) children account for slightly less than 1 % of all births.

The prognosis of children born very preterm has improved considerably in the past decades, and in high-income countries currently around 90 % of children born at very low birth weight survive.

The first adults born at a very low birth weight who have received modern ante- and perinatal treatment are starting to reach middle age, and thus it is now possible to study the long term consequences of preterm birth on adult health.

Objectives

Our aim is to study the connection between preterm birth and adult health as well as investigating the adult phenotype of prematurity. In our study we search for differences in metabolism between people born at very low birth weight and their term siblings.

The goal of this study is to widely assess the health and welfare of our sibling pairs with a particular focus on glucose- and lipid metabolism, exercise, physical activity, nutrition, mental health and hereditary factors. The overarching aim of our project is to identify mechanisms and metabolic pathways linking preterm birth to adult health outcomes.

Our study will provide information that will help to identify risk factors of health conditions in adults born preterm, and possibly will benefit the follow-up and treatment of people born preterm.

Implementation

79 same sex sibling pairs were included in the study, with one being born preterm at very low birth weight (< 1500 grams) and the other at term. The very low birth weight individuals were born between 1978–1990 in Finland’s capital region, areas surrounding Turku and Tampere, or in Northern Finland.

Between 2014–2017 the sibling pairs underwent extensive clinical examinations over several days (e.g. magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological examination, tissue- and blood samples, exercise and muscle strength testing). Further information regarding their birth, pregnancy and childhood development was collected from hospital and patient records. 

Partners

• Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, HUS Medical Imaging Center
• University of Helsinki, Faculty of Medicine
• University of Oulu, Faculty of Medicine
• Oulu University Hospital 
• Oulun yliopistollinen sairaala
• LIKES Research Center
• Helsingin urheilulääkäriasema HULA (Helsinki Sports and Exercise Center)
• Adults Born Preterm International Collaboration
• RECAP Research on Children and Adults Born Preterm

Funding

• Academy of Finland 
• Sigrid Jusélius Foundation
• Finnish Foundation for Pediatric Research 
• Novo Nordisk Foundation
• Juho Vainio Foundation
• Foundation for Diabetes Research
• Signe ja Ane Gyllenberg Foundation
• Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation
• Päivikki ja Sakari Sohlberg Foundation
• European Commission

Data Protection

The register keeper of the study is National Institute for Health and Welfare. The responsible principle investigator is Professor, Research Manager Eero Kajantie. Data collected in the study are processed by researchers at National Institute for Health and Welfare and University of Helsinki.

To attain the aims of the project, the data are also processed in national and international collaborative projects together with data from other follow-up studies.

Data are processed such that it is not possible to directly identify individuals. Access to data is protected by username and password. The data are confidential.

Personal data are processed for scientific research. Data are stored for the duration of follow-up data collection. The need to store data is evaluated on a regular basis.

Contact information

Eero Kajantie
Research Manager
Professor of life course medicine
tel. +358 2952 48610

Juho Kuula
Clinical Research Physician
Doctoral candidate
[email protected]

Data Protection Officer

tietosuoja(at)thl.fi

Data protection legislation grants the study participant specific rights that the participant may exercise to ensure privacy as one of fundamental rights. Should you wish to exercise these rights, please contact kirjaamo(at)thl.fi

You have the right to make an appeal to the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman, if you consider that prevailing data protection legislation has not been followed when your personal data have been used. 

Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman
Street address: Ratapihantie 9, 6th floor, 00520 Helsinki
Mail address: PL 800, 00521 Helsinki
Telephone: +358 29 566 6700
Telefax +358 29 566 6735
E-mail: tietosuoja(at)om.fi