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Aim: To identify the risk factors for optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) and septo‐optic dysplasia (SOD). Method: A retrospective, population‐based study with case–control design was undertaken using the Population Research Data Repository at the Manitoba Center for Health Policy in Manitoba, Canada. Cases were 111 patients (63 males, 48 females; age range 1–35 years [mean 11 years 6 months, SD 7 years 2 months]) with ONH and SOD diagnosed from 1990 to 2019, matched to 555 unrelated population‐based controls (315 males, 240 females; age range 1–35 years [mean 11 years 6 months, SD 7 years 2 months]) on year of birth, sex, and area of residence. Additionally, 75 cases (46 males, 29 females; age range 2–35 years [mean 12 years 6 months, SD 7 years 2 months]) with ONH and SOD were matched one‐on‐one with sibling controls (40 males, 35 females; age range 0–33 years [mean 11 years 7 months, SD 7 years 10 months], the rest did not have siblings). Several antenatal maternal risk factors associated with ONH and SOD were tested for their association with case and control group membership using adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from a multivariate conditional logistic regression model. The outcome was the risk of developing ONH and SOD. Results: Maternal age at conception (OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.86–0.96), primigravida (OR = 3.39, 95% CI = 1.92–6.01), and smoking (OR = 2.86, 95% CI = 1.61–5.05) were independently associated with ONH and SOD in the cohort matched to unrelated controls (p < 0.001). In the sibling cohort, smoking was an important risk factor (OR = 3.65, 95% CI = 1.2–11.1, p = 0.02). Interpretation: Unmodifiable and modifiable antenatal maternal risk factors are associated with ONH and SOD. Our investigation suggests that several risk factors reported in previous studies may have been due to confounding bias and that maternal smoking during pregnancy is the main modifiable risk factor associated with ONH and SOD. What this paper adds: Historically, many antenatal risk factors have been associated with optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) and septo‐optic dysplasia (SOD).Population‐based data with matched controls for potential confounding bias are lacking.Young maternal age at conception, primigravida, and smoking during pregnancy are the main risk factors for ONH and SOD using a population‐based, case–control design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundHealth administrative data are frequently used for health services and population health research. Comparative research using these data has been facilitated by the use of a standard system for coding diagnoses, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Research using the data must deal with data quality and validity limitations which arise because the data are not created for research purposes. This paper presents a list of high-priority methodological areas for researchers using health administrative data.MethodsA group of researchers and users of health administrative data from Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Australia, China and the United Kingdom came together in June 2005 in Banff, Canada to discuss and identify high-priority methodological research areas. The generation of ideas for research focussed not only on matters relating to the use of administrative data in health services and population health research, but also on the challenges created in transitioning from ICD-9 to ICD-10. After the brain-storming session, voting took place to rank-order the suggested projects. Participants were asked to rate the importance of each project from 1 (low priority) to 10 (high priority). Average ranks were computed to prioritise the projects.ResultsThirteen potential areas of research were identified, some of which represented preparatory work rather than research per se. The three most highly ranked priorities were the documentation of data fields in each country's hospital administrative data (average score 8.4), the translation of patient safety indicators from ICD-9 to ICD-10 (average score 8.0), and the development and validation of algorithms to verify the logic and internal consistency of coding in hospital abstract data (average score 7.0).ConclusionThe group discussions resulted in a list of expert views on critical international priorities for future methodological research relating to health administrative data. The consortium's members welcome contacts from investigators involved in research using health administrative data, especially in cross-jurisdictional collaborative studies or in studies that illustrate the application of ICD-10.