Antecedent Risk Factors Associated with Cerebral Palsy

Principal Investigator: Clinical Professor William Gilbert, M.D.

Funding for the project: National Institute of Health, R03

The cerebral palsy project is an NIH funded project which links three different administrative databases: the OSHPD maternal/newborn hospital discharge database of the vast majority of deliveries in California for the years 1991-2001, the vital statistics birth certificate database, and the DHS MediCal payment database of all children with cerebral palsy, autism and other neurologic diseases. This large combined database will allow us to study the birth records of over 20,000 children with autism to see if birth related events are associated with any increased risk of developing autism. In addition, we have almost 9,000 children with CP and will be able to examine the birth records of

these children to see what impact birth injury or other adverse perinatal events may play on the development of CP. Our studies will allow us to examine true population based outcomes which will set the standard for birth related events in these important areas.