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APPENDIX D COHORT ADJUSTMENT OF FERTILITY FOR ANTICHOLINERGIC TEST GROUP, USING NO-CHEMICAL-TEST GROUP FOR COMPARISON The following cohort evaluations of the anticholinergic test group were made with the "no chemical test" (NCT) group for compari- son. (See Results section on family relationships for details of adjustments.) It should be cautioned that the NOT population is a peculiar comparison group for this purpose. The results, shown in Table~D-l, are included for completeness. Births to men tested with anticholinergics were fewer than would have been expected on the basis of the experience of the men in the NOT group. However, the deficit exists even for early births (before testing or not more than 1 year after test--births of children conceived before testing) and was even larger for such births than for later births. For the early period, the number of births (282) was only 73% of the number expected (384.3~; the corresponding percentages for 2-4 years after testing, 5-7 years after testing, 8-10 years after testing, and more than 10 years after testing were 91%, 99%, 90YO, and 109%. Therefore, the most likely explanation of the difference is that the selection process that assigned some volunteers to anticholinergic chemicals and others to no active chemicals (NOT), by whatever criteria were used, succeeded in distinguishing men who would have fewer children from those who would have more. Not only was the number of births in the anticholinergic group low, but the male-to-female ratio among the children was low. It was also low among children conceived before testing. No satis- factory explanation is apparent, but the difference does not appear to be attributable to drug exposure. -87-
TABLE D-1 Numbers and Sex of Offspring of Men Exposed to Anticholinergics (Total), by Year Since Testing and Expected Values, Adjusted for Age and Year of Testing (NCT Group as Reference) No. Males Time of Bi Before testing to 1 year after testing 138 2-4 years after testing 198 5-7 years after testing 223 8-10 years after testing 192 11+ years after testing 208 2 or more years Obs. Exp. 209.0 246.9 284.2 234.0 214.2 No. Females b Obs. Exp. 140 215 276 199 199 167.0 201.4 222.2 20S.7 160.3 Total Obs. Exp. 282 384. 3 416 455.5 509 514.6 402 446.3 418 385 .1 after testing 821 979 .3 889 789 .6 1, 745 1, 801.5 a Total includes children of unknown sex. b No-chemical-test (NCT) group used as standard for adjustment. -88-
