Birth Month and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Association: Is meaningfulness in the eye of the beholder?

Authors

  • Eduard Poltavskiy Graduate Group in Epidemiology, University of California, Davis, USA
  • J. D. Spence Stroke Prevention & Atherosclerosis Research Centre, Robarts Research Institute, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
  • Jeehyoung Kim Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul Sacred Heart General Hospital, Seoul, Korea
  • Heejung Bang UC Davis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v8i2.6643

Abstract

In the modern era, with high-throughput technology and large data size, associational studies are actively being generated. Some have statistical and clinical validity and utility, or at least have biologically plausible relationships, while others may not.  Recently, the potential effect of birth month on lifetime disease risks was studied in a phenome-wide model. We evaluated the associations between birth month and 5 cardiovascular diseases in an independent dataset of 8,346 patients from Canada in 1977-2014. We compared the predictiveness of birth month vs. sex (or age) by various statistical measures, and also examined the event rate over birth months by sex. Hypertension and coronary heart disease were most prevalent in those who were born in January and April, respectively, as observed in the original paper.  Other outcomes showed weak or opposite associations.  Time-trends of blood pressures and of event rates by sex demonstrate inconsistent patterns, implying high randomness. As scientific importance/meaningfulness and clinical implications and practical usefulness can be different, readers would want to read the original and new papers together for more objective interpretations of the potential impacts of birth month on personal and public health.

Author Biographies

Eduard Poltavskiy, Graduate Group in Epidemiology, University of California, Davis, USA

Department of Public Health Sciences, PhD student

J. D. Spence, Stroke Prevention & Atherosclerosis Research Centre, Robarts Research Institute, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

Stroke Prevention & Atherosclerosis Research Centre, Professor

Jeehyoung Kim, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul Sacred Heart General Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Attending Surgeon

Heejung Bang, UC Davis

Department of Public Health Sciences, Professor

Downloads

Published

2016-08-15

How to Cite

Poltavskiy, E., Spence, J. D., Kim, J., & Bang, H. (2016). Birth Month and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Association: Is meaningfulness in the eye of the beholder?. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v8i2.6643

Issue

Section

Original Articles