2025/04/16 by Camilla Lomholt Kjersgaard, Andreas Ernst, Sofie Aagaard Sand +4 · 1 voice
Medicine · Immunology and Microbiology · #Pregnancy and Medication Impact #Asthma and respiratory diseases #Reproductive System and Pregnancy
paper · doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.04.013
openalex publication_date 2025/04/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We investigated the impact of maternal asthma on children’s pubertal timing as it remains underexplored. The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) provided information on maternal asthma during pregnancy, supplemented with diagnosis codes from the Danish National Patient Register. The DNBC sub-cohort the Puberty Cohort gave half-yearly information on pubertal timing from 11 years. We estimated adjusted mean age differences in months for reaching Tanner Stages 1–5 for breast, genital and pubic hair development, axillary hair, acne, and voice break, and menarche for daughters, and first ejaculation for sons. Further, a negative control analysis explored confounding, and two mediation analyses explored mediation through birthweight and childhood asthma. In total, 15,819 children and their mothers participated and 6.6 % of the children had mothers with asthma. Results indicated slightly later pubertal development in sons of mothers with asthma (average difference: 1.0 months (95 % confidence intervals −0.4, 2.4)). This association was not mediated by birthweight or childhood asthma. We did not observe any associations among daughters. The negative control analysis suggested some confounding towards the null. Sons of mothers with asthma during pregnancy had slightly later pubertal timing, though the result could also indicate no association. • Association between maternal asthma during pregnancy and pubertal timing in offspring. • Sons of mothers with asthma during pregnancy had slightly later pubertal timing. • No associations were found among daughters of mothers with asthma in pregnancy. • The result was not mediated by birthweight for gestational age or childhood asthma. • Paternal asthma as a negative control suggests some confounding towards the null.