Parental age and birth order effects in children with febrile convulsions

This is a study of the parental age and birth order of 100 Chinese children with febrile convulsions compared with 100 controls. The birth order of children with febrile convulsions (1.6 +/- 0.8) was found to be lower than that of the controls (2.1 +/- 1.0), a difference significant at P less than 0.001, whereas there was no significant difference for both paternal and maternal age. Using multiple regression analysis, it was found that the birth order effect was significant at P less than 0.0001. This finding suggests that perinatal factors may play a role in the pathogenesis of febrile convulsions.