Thank you to all the mothers that participated in the study. More than 1,800 SB mothers and their affected child and 6,400 control mothers participated in phase 2 of the Spina Bifida Genetics Research Project. We reached our enrollment goal in October 2012. We greatly appreciate the help from the moms who participated, your support is crucial for our research. We are starting our analysis phase and we will keep everyone updated on our findings. Please email info@sbgenetics.org with any questions about the study.
What Are 'Controls' and Why Are They Important?
The Spina Bifida Genetics Research Project needs both mothers who have a child affected by spina bifida and mothers who do not have a child affected by a birth defect. In research projects, individuals who have the disease or condition are designated "cases" and those individuals without the disease or condition are designated "controls". For this study, mothers who have a child with spina bifida are the cases, and mothers who do not have a child affected by a birth defect are the controls. Our research project will compare the genetic profiles of the cases to the genetic profiles of the controls. Statistical analysis is used to determine an association between specific genetic factors and the occurrence of spina bifida.
