The Effect of Paternal Age on Preterm Births; a Survey of 281 Cases

Objective: To determine the effect of paternal age on preterm births in Iranian neonates.Materials and methods: From January 2005 to January 2006, two hundred eighty one preterm neonates born in Mirza Kuchakkhan Hospital enrolled in this cross-sectional study. A structured questionnaire was applied for recording following data: birth weight, sex, gestational age, maternal age and paternal age. The study was limited to neonates whose maternal age was between 20 and 30 years to eliminate its confounding effect.Results: Near 50% of fathers were between 30-39 years old and more than half of neonates had gestational age between 35-37 weeks. There were no relation between either paternal age (p= 0.1) or birth weight (p=0.5) and neonatal gestational age. In women with parity one, there was not significant difference between gestational age among different paternal age levels ( p= 0.6) as well as women with parity two and three (p=0.2, p=0.3).Conclusion: Paternal age has no effect on gestational age and birth.