An exploration of potential risk factors for gastroschisis using decision tree learning

Despite a wealth of research, the etiology of the abdominal wall defect gastroschisis remains largely unknown. The strongest known risk factor is young maternal age. Our objective was to conduct a hypothesis-generating analysis regarding gastroschisis etiology using random forests. Data were from the Slone Birth Defects Study (case-control, United States and Canada, 1998–2015). Cases were gastroschisis-affected pregnancies (n = 273); controls were live-born infants, frequency-matched by center (n = 2591). Potential risk factor data were ascertained via standardized interviews. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) using targeted maximum likelihood estimation. The strongest associations were observed with young maternal age (aOR 3.4, 95 % CI 2.9, 4.0) and prepregnancy body-mass-index