Abstract
Background
Previous studies have shown associations between maternal infections during pregnancy
and increased risks of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder in the offspring.
However, large-scale studies investigating an association between parental infections
both during and outside the pregnancy period and the risk of any mental disorder in
the child are lacking.
Methods
A nationwide Danish cohort study identified 1,206,600 children born between 1996 and
2015 and followed them to a maximum of 20 years of age. Exposure included all maternal
and paternal infections treated with anti-infective agents or hospital contacts before,
during, or after pregnancy. The main outcome was a diagnosis of any mental disorder
in the child. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using Cox regression analysis.
Results
Maternal infections during pregnancy treated with anti-infective agents (n = 567,016) increased the risk of mental disorders (n = 70,037) in the offspring (HR, 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–1.12), which
was more elevated (p < .001) than after paternal infections (n = 350,835; HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.98–1.03). Maternal hospital contacts for infections
(n = 39,753) conferred an increased HR of 1.21 (95% CI, 1.14–1.28), which was not significantly
(p = .08) different from the risk after paternal infections (n = 8559; HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.95–1.20). The increased risks observed during pregnancy
were not different from the similarly increased risks for maternal and paternal infections
before and after pregnancy. The risk of mental disorders increased in a dose-response
relationship with the number of maternal infections treated with anti-infective agents,
particularly during and after pregnancy (both p < .001).
Conclusions
Maternal infections were associated with an increased risk of mental disorder in the
offspring; however, there were similar estimates during and outside the pregnancy
period.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: October 01, 2018
Accepted:
September 15,
2018
Received in revised form:
September 5,
2018
Received:
March 13,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Society of Biological Psychiatry.
