Epidemiological Study of Neonatal Congenital Microtia in Shandong Province, China, 2011-2020.

OBJECTIVE

Congenital microtia is a common congenital disease in newborns. The specific cause of congenital microtia is currently unknown. The main objective of this study is to elucidate the epidemiological characteristics of congenital microtia and explore the possible etiology of congenital microtia.

METHODS

Part of the newborn data from 2011 to 2020 in Shandong Province Birth Defects Monitoring Hospitals were randomly selected. The software GraphPad Prism 9 was used to analyze the data and draw figures.

RESULTS

A total of 4247 infants were diagnosed with congenital malformation among 149,525 newborns randomly selected from the Shandong Province Birth Defects Monitoring Hospitals. Among them, a total of 115 infants were diagnosed with congenital microtia. The mean incidence of microtia during 10 years was 76.14±21.93 per 100,000 infants. The mean incidence of microtia in infants with congenital malformation was 2.67±0.75%. The average incidence of male and female infants with microtia during 10 years were 86.93±23.22 and 64.18±32.71 per 100,000 infants, respectively. In terms of maternal age, the older the mother, the higher the incidence of microtia. In terms of the place of residence, rural infants have a higher incidence of microtia than urban infants.

CONCLUSIONS

The average incidence of microtia was 76.14±21.93 per 100,000 infants in Shandong Province, China, 2011-2020. The female-to-male incidence ratio was 1.45:1. The authors recommend that women choose to give birth at the age of 25 to 29. They hope that the government will take measures to improve the medical and health conditions in rural areas and improve parenting knowledge in rural areas. This can effectively reduce the prevalence of microtia in infants.