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Table 5 Risk of adverse birth outcomes in participants by quartile of cortisol concentrations during pregnancy

From: Maternal cortisol and stress are associated with birth outcomes, but are not affected by lipid-based nutrient supplements during pregnancy: an analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial in rural Malawi

   

Crude

Adjusteda

 

Quartile

Cases (%)

RR (95 % CI)

p-valueb

RR (95 % CI)

p-valueb

Preterm birth (<37 wk)

 Baseline

1

29 (8.3)

1

0.258

1

0.384

 

2

34 (10.5)

1.26 (0.79 to 2.02)

 

1.31 (0.75 to 2.31)

 
 

3

35 (11.2)

1.34 (0.84 to 2.14)

 

1.22 (0.68 to 2.21)

 
 

4

30 (10.8)

1.30 (0.80 to 2.12)

 

1.29 (0.76 to 2.20)

 

 28 wk

1

20 (8.6)

1

0.753

1

0.833

 

2

18 (8.9)

1.03 (0.56 to 1.90)

 

0.92 (0.45 to 1.87)

 
 

3

15 (7.0)

0.81 (0.43 to 1.54)

 

0.50 (0.26 to 0.99)

 
 

4

24 (10.0)

1.16 (0.66 to 2.05)

 

1.00 (0.49 to 2.04)

 

 36 wk

1

2 (0.7)

1

0.092

--

--

 

2

9 (3.3)

4.75 (1.03 to 21.77)

   
 

3

6 (2.7)

3.90 (0.80 to 19.15)

   
 

4

8 (3.2)

4.64 (0.99 to 21.65)

   

Small for gestational age

 Baseline

1

77 (28.0)

1

0.428

1

0.246

 

2

81 (31.3)

1.13 (0.87 to 1.47)

 

1.08 (0.81 to 1.44)

 
 

3

83 (34.0)

1.22 (0.94 to 1.58)

 

1.17 (0.88 to 1.55)

 
 

4

68 (30.2)

1.09 (0.82 to 1.43)

 

1.14 (0.85 to 1.53)

 

 28 wk

1

53 (28.3)

1

0.5332

1

0.258

 

2

37 (24.0)

0.85 (0.59 to 1.22)

 

0.88 (0.59 to 1.32)

 
 

3

58 (31.0)

1.09 (0.80 to 1.50)

 

1.23 (0.88 to 1.71)

 
 

4

56 (29.3)

1.04 (0.76 to 1.43)

 

1.11 (0.79 to 1.56)

 

 36 wk

1

61 (24.4)

1

0.028

1

0.121

 

2

71 (31.4)

1.29 (0.96 to 1.72)

 

1.41 (1.01 to 1.98)

 
 

3

68 (35.4)

1.45 (1.09 to 1.94)

 

1.39 (0.97 to 1.97)

 
 

4

67 (32.8)

1.34 (1.00 to 1.80)

 

1.28 (0.90 to 1.81)

 

Low birth weight (<2500 g)

 Baseline

1

35 (11.4)

1

0.111

1

0.170

 

2

37 (12.6)

1.10 (0.72 to 1.70)

 

1.00 (0.64 to 1.55)

 
 

3

38 (13.8)

1.21 (0.79 to 1.86)

 

1.01 (0.63 to 1.61)

 
 

4

40 (15.9)

1.39 (0.91 to 2.12)

 

1.31 (0.85 to 2.02)

 

 28 wk

1

16 (7.7)

1

0.002

1

0.001

 

2

15 (8.2)

1.05 (0.54 to 2.07)

 

1.13 (0.55 to 2.55)

 
 

3

30 (14.6)

1.88 (1.06 to 3.35)

 

2.01 (1.08 to 3.74)

 
 

4

35 (16.2)

2.10 (1.20 to 3.67)

 

2.56 (1.31 to 5.00)

 

 36 wk

1

15 (5.5)

1

0.003

1

0.027

 

2

23 (9.1)

1.66 (0.89 to 3.11)

 

2.54 (1.15 to 5.59)

 
 

3

36 (16.7)

3.03 (1.71 to 5.39)

 

3.15 (1.46 to 6.78)

 
 

4

27 (11.7)

2.13 (1.16 to 3.90)

 

2.14 (1.01 to 4.56)

 

Newborn stunting (HAZ < −2)

 Baseline

1

45 (15.3)

1

0.099

1

0.072

 

2

42 (15.0)

0.98 (0.67 to 1.44)

 

1.17 (0.80 to 1.72)

 
 

3

41 (15.3)

1.00 (0.68 to 1.48)

 

1.02 (0.68 to 1.52)

 
 

4

48 (21.3)

1.39 (0.96 to 2.01)

 

1.56 (1.08 to 2.25)

 

 28 wk

1

25 (12.1)

1

0.095

1

0.309

 

2

27 (15.1)

1.25 (0.75 to 2.07)

 

1.24 (0.73 to 2.10)

 
 

3

33 (16.8)

1.39 (0.86 to 2.25)

 

1.49 (0.89 to 2.51)

 
 

4

37 (17.9)

1.47 (0.92 to 2.36)

 

1.16 (0.72 to 1.87)

 

 36 wk

1

29 (10.9)

1

0.195

1

0.281

 

2

38 (15.2)

1.38 (0.88 to 2.16)

 

1.69 (1.03 to 2.77)

 
 

3

30 (14.6)

1.34 (0.83 to 2.16)

 

1.47 (0.86 to 2.53)

 
 

4

33 (15.2)

1.39 (0.88 to 2.22)

 

1.29 (0.74 to 2.23)

 
  1. aAdjusted for parity (primiparous or multiparous), maternal age, sex of fetus, maternal BMI, education, socio-economic score, study site, season at enrolment, gestational age at enrolment, time between waking and saliva collection, and time between last food or drink (except water) and saliva collection, and gestational age at enrolment
  2. bp-value for trend obtained from Poisson regression models