Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-fwgfc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T15:48:52.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seasonal Variation of Twin Births in Washington State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

C.E. Dionne ,
M. Söderström  and
S. M. Schwartz
C.E. Dionne*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wa, USA
M. Söderström
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wa, USA
S. M. Schwartz
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wa, USA
*
Department of Epidemiology SC-36, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Twin births are known to vary across seasons in several countries. It has been hypothesized that this variation may be due to seasonal changes in luminosity leading to pineal gland-mediated multiovulation among susceptible mothers. To describe seasonal variation of twin births in Washington State, all mothers residing in Washington State who gave birth to both a pair of twins and a singleton baby between 1984-1990 (n = 1168) were identified through linkage of computerized State birth certificates. Using a “matched-on-mother” case-control design, the estimated month of conception of twin gestations (the “case” events) were compared to that for their singleton siblings (the “control” events) to determine their relative occurrence during periods of high vs low sunlight in accordance with local climatological data. For the study population as a whole, there was only a slight tendency for twins to have been conceived during the period of high sunlight compared to their singleton siblings (OR = 1.3, 95% C.I. = 1.0-1.7). When stratified by concordant-sex vs discordant-sex, however, more discordant-sex twin pairs were conceived during the light period than corresponding singletons (OR = 1.7, 95% C.I. = 1.0-2.8), whereas no association was found for concordant-sex twins (OR =1.1, 95% C.I. =0.8-1.6). The presence of an association only among discordant-sex twins, all of whom are dizygotic, is consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to sunlight may stimulate multiple ovulation, and thus increase the incidence of twin gestations among twin-prone mothers.

Keywords

Twinning rateSeasonalityConfoundingCase-control studyMatched analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , April 1993 , pp. 141 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1993

References

REFERENCES

1.Bartness, TJ, Goldman, BD (1989): Mammalian pineale melatonin: A clock for all seasons. Ex-perientia 45:939–945.Google Scholar
2.Blankstein, J, Mashiach, S, Lunenfeld, B (1986): Ovulation induction and in vitro fertilization. Chicago & London: Year Book Medical Publishers Inc.Google Scholar
3.Breslow, NE, Day, NE (1987): Statistical methods in cancer research. Volume 1: the analysis of case-control studies. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO.Google Scholar
4.Bulmer, MG (1970): The biology of twinning in man. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
5.Elwood, JM (1978): Maternal and environmental factors affecting twin births in Canadian cities. Br J Obst Gynaecol 85:351–358.Google Scholar
6.Ericksson, AW, Eskola, MR, Fellman, JD (1976): Retrospective studies on the twinning rate in Scandinavia. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 25:29–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Imaizumi, Y, Asaka, A, Inouye, E (1980): Analysis of multiple birth rates in Japan - V. Seasonal and social class variations in twin births. Jnp J Human Genet 25:299–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.James, WH (1976): Seasonality in twin births. Ann Human Biology 3:193–195.Google Scholar
9.Kauppila, A, Kivelä, A, Pakarinen, A, Vakkuri, O (1987): Inverse seasonal relationship between melatonin and ovarian activity in humans in a region with a strong seasonal contrast in luminosity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 65:823–828.Google Scholar
10.Kendler, KS, Robinette, CD (1983): Month of birth by zygosity in the NAS-NRC twin registry. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 32:113–116.Google Scholar
11.Landy, HJ, Weiner, S, Corson, SL, Batzer, FR, Bolognese, RJ (1986): The “vanishing twin”: ultrasonographic assessment of fetal disappearance in the first trimester. Am J Obstet Gynecol 155:14–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Martin, NG, de Kretser, D, Robertson, DM, Osborne, J, Chenevix-Trench, G, Burger, HG (1991): Elevation of follicular phase inhibin and luteinizing hormone levels in mothers of dizygotic twins suggests nonovarian control of human multiple ovulation. Fertil Steril 56:469–474.Google Scholar
13.Nakamura, I, Amau, Y, Nonaka, K, Miura, T (1987): Alternate changes in birth seasonality of twins during 1971-1984 in Japan. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 36:373–380.Google Scholar
14.Parisi, P, Gatti, M, Prinzi, G, Caperna, G (1983): Familial incidence of twinning. Nature 304:626–628.Google Scholar
15.Philippe, P (1991): Box-Jenkins modeling of chronological series of twin births and single births. Human Biology 63:367–387.Google Scholar
16.Philippe, P (1987): Cyclic variations of twin births at Isle-aux-Coudres: a case/control approach. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 36:381–388.Google Scholar
17.Richter, J, Miura, T, Nakamura, I, Nonaka, K (1984): Twinning rates and seasonal changes in Görlitz, Germany, from 1611 to 1860. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 33:121–124.Google ScholarPubMed
18.SAS Institute Inc. (1989): SAS/STAT User's Guide, Version 6, Fourth edition, Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
19.SER Corporation (1989): EGRET Reference Manual, Seattle, WA: Statistics and Epidemiology Research Corporation.Google Scholar