Annual Report Highlights Population Health Research Findings

The NICHD’s Division of Intramural Population Health Research (DIPHR) provides research updates in its newly released annual report (PDF - 991 KB) for 2014.

The report covers several long-term research efforts, such as the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study; the Endometriosis: Natural History, Diagnosis, and Outcomes (ENDO) Study; the Upstate New York Infant Development Screening Program (Update KIDS); the Cultivating Healthful Eating in Families of Youth with Type 1 Diabetes (CHEF) Study; and the Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction (EAGeR) Study.

Other studies include the following:

• Folic Acid and Zinc Supplementation Trial (FAZST), which studies the effectiveness of folic acid and zinc supplements on sperm quality and fertility treatment outcomes
   
• Breathe—Wellbeing, Environment, Lifestyle, and Lung Function (B-WELL-Mom) Study, which investigates pregnancy and asthma
   
• NICHD Fetal Growth Study, which aims to develop standards of fetal growth in four racial/ethnic groups of U.S. women
   
• Pregnancy Eating Attributes Study (PEAS) , which examines what women eat and the reasons for their food choices during pregnancy and after their babies are born

Among the notable findings highlighted in the report:

• The Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Branch developed a new method to predict adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as fetal growth restriction, using fetal ultrasound data.¹
• The Epidemiology Branch found that although taking low-dose aspirin did not generally prevent pregnancy loss, it did increase live birth rates among a specific subgroup of women.²
• The Health Behavior Branch found that for youth with type 1 diabetes, eating a healthier diet did not cost significantly more than eating a lower quality diet.³
• Researchers in the DIPHR Office of the Director found that women whose male partners had higher concentrations of benzophenone-type UV filters⁴ or phthalates⁵ (chemicals commonly found in many consumer products) took longer to become pregnant.

Read the full annual report (PDF - 991 KB) to learn more about DIPHR and its research.

More Information

• 2014 Annual Report (PDF - 991 KB) from the Division of Intramural Population Health Research
• A to Z Topics:
  • Birth Defects
  • Diabetes
  • Endometriosis
  • Infertility and Fertility
  • Men's Reproductive Health
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Loss
  • Women's Health
• Division of Intramural Population Health Research
  • Office of the Director
  • Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Branch
  • Epidemiology Branch
  • Health Behavior Branch

• NICHD News related to DIPHR

Originally Posted: April 24, 2015

All NICHD Spotlights

1. Liu, D., & Albert, P. S. (2014). Combination of longitudinal biomarkers in predicting binary events. Biostatistics, 15, 706–718. PMID: 24831103
2. Schisterman, E. F., Silver, R. M., Lesher, L. L., Faraggi, D., Wactawski-Wende, J., Townsend, J. M., Lynch, A. M., Perkins, N. J., Mumford, S. L., & Galai, N. (2014). Preconception low-dose aspirin and pregnancy outcomes: Results from the EAGeR randomised trial. Lancet, 384, 29–36. PMID: 24702835
3. Nansel, T., Haynie, D., Lipsky, L., Mehta, S., & Laffel, L. (2015). Little variation in diet cost across wide ranges of overall dietary quality among youth with type 1 diabetes. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 115(3), 433–439.e1. PMID: 25266245
4. Buck Louis, G. M., Kannan, K., Sapra K. J., Maisog, J., & Sundaram R. (2014). Urinary concentrations of benzophenone-type ultraviolet radiation filters and couples’ fecundity. American Journal of Epidemiology, 180(12), 1168–1175. PMID: 25395025
5. Buck Louis, G. M., Sundaram, R., Sweeney, A. M., Schisterman, E. F., Maisog, J., & Kannan, K. (2014). Urinary bisphenol A, phthalates, and couple fecundity: The Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study. Fertility and Sterility, 101(5), 1359–1366. PMID: 24534276