Association of cesarean section and infectious outcomes among infants at 1 year of age: Logistic regression analysis using data of 104,065 records from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

• Published in: PLOS ONE Vol. 19; no. 2; p. e0298950
• Main Authors: Maeda, Hajime, Hashimoto, Koichi, Iwasa, Hajime, Kyozuka, Hyo, Kume, Yohei, Go, Hayato, Sato, Akiko, Ogata, Yuka, Murata, Tsuyoshi, Fujimori, Keiya, Shinoki, Kosei, Nishigori, Hidekazu, Yasumura, Seiji, Hosoya, Mitsuaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science (PLoS) 21.02.2024; Public Library of Science
• Subjects: Analysis; Care and treatment; Cesarean section; Cesarean Section - adverse effects; Child; Cohort Studies; Communicable Diseases - complications; Cross-Sectional Studies; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Diseases; Female; Gastrointestinal diseases; Health aspects; Humans; Infant; Infants; Infection; Japan; Japan - epidemiology; Logistic Models; Medical records; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; People and Places; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; Q; R; Regression analysis; Research and Analysis Methods; Research Article; Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology; Respiratory Tract Infections - etiology; Science; Urinary tract infections; Urinary Tract Infections - complications; Vaccines; Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298950

There has been a recent decrease in the prevalence of infectious diseases in children worldwide due to the usage of vaccines. However, the association between cesarean delivery and infectious diseases remains unclear. Here, we aimed to clarify the association between cesarean delivery and the development of infectious diseases. This study is a cross-sectional study. We used data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study, which is a prospective, nationwide, government-funded birth cohort study. The data of 104,065 records were included. Information about the mode of delivery, central nervous system infection (CNSI), otitis media (OM), upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), gastrointestinal infection (GI), and urinary tract infection (UTI) was obtained from questionnaires and medical records transcripts. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between cesarean delivery and CNSI, OM, URTI, LRTI, GI, and UTI risk. We included a total of 74,477 subjects in this study, of which 18.4% underwent cesarean deliveries. After adjusting for the perinatal, socioeconomic, and postnatal confounding factors, children born by cesarean delivery did not have an increased risk of developing CNSI (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.46-1.35), OM (95% CI 0.99-1.12), URTI (95% CI 0.97-1.06), LRTI (95% CI 0.98-1.15), GI (95% CI 0.98-1.11), or UTI (95% CI 0.95-1.45). This nationwide cohort study did not find an association between cesarean delivery and CNSI, OM, URTI, LRTI, GI, and UTI. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the role of cesarean delivery in the development of infectious diseases.