
Add low birth weight to the list of potential risk factors for COPD later in life. According to a study published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research, researchers found a potential association between the two factors.
Researchers conducted a prospective analysis for participants without baseline COPD in UK Biobank — a large-scale medical database that houses de-identified biological samples and health-related data gathered from volunteer participants.
The study included 251,172 participants with birth weight data, out of which 5,602 COPD cases were found during follow-up. Using Cox regression models, the researchers determined that participants with the lowest quintile of birth weight had a higher risk for COPD.
“This study indicated that lower birth weight may increase risk of COPD,” the researchers wrote.
However, they added that the associations between birth weight and COPD were non-linear: as birth weight increased, the risk of COPD showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. The study also showed a joint effect between birth weight and maternal smoking.
“Low birth weight had [correlations] with maternal smoking, older age and passive smoking, and a joint effect of low birth weight and smoking during pregnancy was demonstrated,” the researchers wrote. “Further analysis and research should be carried out in this direction.”