Kata Kunci

Abstrak

Background: Down syndrome incidence increases year to year and ranks first in birth defect cases in Indonesia. Down syndrome births may burden families physically, socially, economically, and emotionally. The most common risk factor associated with Down syndrome is maternal age. Objective: This research is conducted to understand the association between maternal age and parity as risk factors for Down syndrome births. Methods: Analytical observation design with a case-control approach is used in this study. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were calculated using Chi-Square and binary logistic regression tests. Results: This research's results showed a significant association between maternal age as a risk factor and the incidence of Down syndrome (p-value < 0.001) and no significant association between parity and the incidence of Down syndrome (p-value > 0.05) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Mothers aged ≥35 years have an 18.82 times greater risk of giving birth to a Down syndrome baby compared to mothers aged <35 years (OR = 18.82). The mean maternal age when giving birth to Down syndrome children was 35.1 years old. The biological ovarian aging hypothesis presumes a higher probability of chromosomal segregation failure during oocyte meiosis. Advanced maternal age naturally causes biological ovarian aging, which may be caused or influenced by hormonal imbalance, limited oocyte pool, oxidative stress, changes in the mechanism of spontaneous abortion, and genetic abnormalities or mutations. There was no significant association between parity and the incidence of Down syndrome (p-value = 0.0689). Conclusion: Mothers aged 35 years or older are the only significant risk factor for having a child with Down syndrome in this research, with an 18.82 times greater risk than mothers under 35 years old. The mean maternal age when giving birth to Down syndrome children was 35.1 years old.