Population prevalence of hypospadias according to monitoring of congenital malformations in the regions of the Russian Federation

Hypospadias is a common congenital malformation, and its incidence varies widely between countries and geographic regions, making it necessary to obtain proprietary frequency estimates. In addition, a number of studies have noted a trend toward increased hypospadias.Purpose. The study aims at assessing the incidence and dynamics of hypospadias in the regions of the Russian Federation for the period 2011–2021.Material and methods. The study included 22 regions of the Russian Federation. The study sample included cases of hypospadias among live births, stillbirths, and fetuses. The number of cases of hypospadias is 7071, the total number of births during the study period is 4,677,892. IBM SPSS Statistics 21 was used to process the research materials. Poisson regression was used to assess the incidence and risk factors for hypospadias.Results. The overall incidence of hypospadias in all regions was 15.12 cases per 10,000 births. The incidence of all cases of hypospadias by region ranged from 2.12 to 34.76 per 10,000 births. There were no significant trends in changes in the frequency of the defect during the study period. Among all cases of hypospadias, the majority is represented by hypospadias of the glans penis (Q54.0) — 5666 cases or 80.13%. In 99.41% of cases, hypospadias occurred in live-born children. The incidence of hypospadias in children increased with maternal age (over 35 years).Discussion. For the first time, estimates of the incidence of hypospadias have been obtained based on monitoring data for congenital malformations. Since hypospadias is a common defect, it can be assumed that in regions of the Russian Federation with low frequencies of hypospadias, the defect is most likely underreported. The incidence of the defect has remained stable over time, although many studies have found an increase in the incidence of hypospadias. Continued research is needed to clarify the epidemiological characteristics of hypospadias.