Paternal age and adverse birth outcomes: teenager or 40+, who is at risk? Hum Reprod 2008;23:1290–1296. de la Rochebrochard E, Thonneau P. Paternal age and maternal age are risk factors for miscarriage; results of a multicentre European study

BACKGROUND: Most previous studies on the effect of paternal age have focused on the association of advanced paternal age with congenital anomalies. The objective of this study was to determine whether paternal age is associ-ated with the risk of adverse birth outcomes, independent of maternal confounders. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of 2 614 966 live singletons born to married, nulliparous women aged 20–29 years between 1995 and 2000 in the USA. Multiple logistic regressions were applied to estimate the independent effect of paternal age on adverse birth outcomes. RESULTS: Compared with infants born to fathers aged 20–29 years, infants fathered by teenagers (<20 years old) had an increased risk of preterm birth [odds ratio (OR)5 1.15, 95