Water disinfection by-products and the risk of specific birth defects: a population-based cross-sectional study in Taiwan

Bing-Fang Hwang; Jouni JK Jaakkola; How-Ran Guo

doi:10.1186/1476-069X-7-23

Environmental Health

Table 7 A comparison of the results from the present, Sweden, Norway, California, and England and Wales studies.

From: Water disinfection by-products and the risk of specific birth defects: a population-based cross-sectional study in Taiwan

Birth defect	Study area	Fixed-Effects Model Summary OR (95 % CI)	Random-Effects Model Summary OR (95% CI)	Q-statistic/P-value*
Anencephalus	Norway 2002	1.13 (0.74–1.73)	1.15 (0.56–2.36)	7.55/0.056
	California 2003 ⁽¹⁾
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	Taiwan 2008
	Norway 2002	0.85 (0.51–1.43)	0.91 (0.40–2.51)	4.23/0.121
	California 2003 ⁽¹⁾
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	Norway 2002	0.98 (0.61–1.59)	0.98 (0.38–2.51)	6.19/0.045
	California 2003 ⁽¹⁾
	Taiwan 2008
	Norway 2002	1.73 (1.01–2.96)	1.73 (1.01–2.96)	0.96/0.619
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	Taiwan 2008
Cleft palate	Norway 2002	1.00 (0.87–1.15)	1.10 (0.82–1.48)	4.50/0.212
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	Taiwan 2008
	England and Wales 2007
	Norway 2002	1.43 (0.97–2.10)	1.43 (0.97–2.10)	0.74/0.690
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	Taiwan 2008
	Norway 2002	0.95 (0.83–1.10)	0.95 (0.83–1.10)	0.05/0.976
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	England and Wales 2007
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾	1.00 (0.87–1.15)	1.13 (0.77–1.66)	4.49/0.106
	Taiwan 2008
	England and Wales 2007
Cleft lip with/without palate	Norway 2002	0.95 (0.85–1.06)	0.95 (0.85–1.06)	2.76/0.431
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	Taiwan 2008
	England and Wales 2007
	Norway 2002	1.00 (0.78–1.27)	1.01 (0.75–1.37)	2.58/0.276
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	Taiwan 2008
	Norway 2002	0.95 (0.84–1.06)	0.97 (0.76–1.24)	2.71/0.258
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾
	England and Wales 2007
	California 2003 ⁽²⁾	0.96 (0.86–1.07)	0.98 (0.82–1.15)	2.54/0.281
	Taiwan 2008
	England and Wales 2007
Ventricular septal defects	Norway 2002	1.59 (1.21–2.07)	1.59 (1.21–2.07)	0.74/0.692
	Taiwan 2008
	England and Wales 2007
	Norway 2002	1.81 (1.21–2.71)	1.81 (1.21–2.71)	0.0001/0.99
	Taiwan 2008
Hydrocephalus	Sweden 2000	0.95 (0.59–1.50)	1.21 (0.52–2.81)	3.76/0.152
	Norway 2002
	Taiwan 2008
Obstructive urinary tract defects	Norway 2002	1.61 (0.85–3.03)	1.61 (0.85–3.03)	0.22/0.638
	Taiwan 2008
Atrial septal defects	Norway 2002	0.97 (0.61–1.52)	0.97 (0.61–1.52)	0.30/0.59
	Taiwan 2008

*P < 0.05 indicates that a random-effects model is more appropriate.
*Sweden 2000 [14]; California 2003⁽¹⁾: Shaw et. al. Study 1 [11]; California 2003⁽¹⁾: Shaw et. al. Study 2 [11] Norway 2007 [12]; England and Wales 2007 [13]; Taiwan 2008: the present study.

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