F. Parazzini et al., COFFEE CONSUMPTION AND RISK OF HOSPITALIZED MISCARRIAGE BEFORE 12 WEEKS OF GESTATION, Human reproduction (Oxford. Print), 13(8), 1998, pp. 2286-2291
In order to analyse the association between drinking coffee in pregnan
cy and risk of spontaneous abortion, a case-controlled study was condu
cted in Milan, Northern Italy. Cases were 782 women with spontaneous a
bortion within the 12th week of gestation. The control group was recru
ited from women who gave birth at term (>37 weeks gestation) to health
y infants on randomly selected days at the same hospitals where cases
had been identified: 1543 controls were interviewed. A total of 561 (7
2%) cases of spontaneous abortion and 877 (57%) controls reported coff
ee drinking during the first trimester of the index pregnancy. The cor
responding multivariate odds ratios of spontaneous abortion, in compar
ison with non-drinkers, were 1.2, 1.8 and 4.0, respectively, for drink
ers of 1, 2 or 3, and 4 or more cups of coffee per day. No relationshi
p emerged between maternal decaffeinated coffee, tea and cola drinking
in pregnancy, as well as paternal coffee consumption, and risk of spo
ntaneous abortion. With regard to duration in years of coffee drinking
, the estimated multivariate odds ratios of spontaneous abortion were,
in comparison with non-coffee drinkers, 1.1 (95% confidence interval
(CI) 0.9-1.4) and 1.9 (95 % CI 1.5-2.6) for women reporting a duration
of coffee consumption less than or equal to 10 or >10 years. In concl
usion, coffee drinking early in pregnancy was associated with an incre
ased risk of abortion. This has biological implications, but epidemiol
ogical inference on the causality is difficult and still open to debat
e.