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Table 1 Characteristics of the women

From: Premenstrual symptoms in young adults born preterm at very low birth weight - from the Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults

Characteristic

VLBW

(N = 86)

mean (SD)

term

(N = 101)

mean (SD)

P Value a

Birth

   

   Birth weight, g

1125 (232)

3569 (474)

< 0.0001

   Gestational age, wk

29.4 (2.4)

40.3 (1.1)

< 0.0001

   Standard deviation score for birth weight

-1.35 (1.60)

0.08 (1.04)

< 0.0001

   SGAb, n (%)

21 (24.4%)

0

< 0.0001

   Maternal preeclampsiac, n (%)

19 (22.0%)

6 (5.9%)

0.001

   Twin, n (%)

13 (15.1%)

0

< 0.0001

   Triplet, n (%)

4 (4.7%)

0

< 0.0001

Parental

   

   Maternal smoking during pregnancy, n (%)

15 (17.4%)

13 (12.9%)

0.4

   Highest education of either parentd, n (%)

  

0.2

Elementary

12 (14.0%)

9 (8.9%)

 

High school

20 (23.3%)

16 (15.8%)

 

Intermediate

32 (37.2%)

36 (35.6%)

 

University

22 (25.6%)

39 (38.6%)

 

Current

   

   Age, y

22.4 (2.1)

22.6 (2.3)

0.5

   Height, cm

162.0 (7.6)

165.8 (13.5)

0.02

   Weight, kg

58.3 (11.8)

63.8 (10.9)

0.001

   BMI, kg/m2

22.1 (3.7)

22.7 (3.7)

0.2

   Daily smoking, n (%)

19 (22.1%)

30 (29.7%)

0.2

   Menarche, y

12.7 (1.5)

12.4 (1.4)

0.1

   Regular menstrual cyclee, n (%)

51 (65.4%)

60 (65.9%)

0.9

   Duration of menorrheaf, d

5.7 (2.8)

5.1 (1.8)

0.07

   Hormonal contraception, n (%)

42 (48.8%)

56 (55.4%)

0.4

Contraceptive pills

37 (43.0%)

48 (47.5%)

 

Hormone releasing intrauterine device

2 (2.3%)

2 (2.0%)

 

Implantable contraceptive

0

1 (1.0%)

 

Other or unknown type of hormonal contraception

3 (3.5%)

5 (5.0%)

 

   Treatment for mental disorders during previous three monthsg, n(%)

11 (12.8%)

6 (5.9%)

0.1

Depression

6 (7.0%)

5 (5.0%)

0.8

Anxiety or panic disorder

9 (10.5%)

5 (5.0%)

0.2

Eating disorder

3 (3.5%)

1 (1.0%)

0.2

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

0

1 (1.0%)

 
  1. a) The t-test for continuous and chi-square test for categorical variables.
  2. b) Small for gestational age, birth weight < -2 SD.
  3. c) Data missing for one term participant.
  4. d) Data missing for one term participant.
  5. e) Menstrual cycle is regular when its duration is 21 to 35 days [22]. Data missing for 8 VLBW and 10 term participants.
  6. f) Duration of last bleeding. Data missing for 7 VLBW and 5 term participants.
  7. g) These participants were excluded from analysis of premenstrual symptoms.