Disorders, Diseases Associated With Childlessness Identified
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Dec. 26, 2023 -- Mental-behavioral disorders, congenital anomalies, and endocrine-nutritional-metabolic disorders are most strongly associated with childlessness, according to a study published online Dec. 18 in Nature Human Behaviour.
Aoxing Liu, Ph.D., from the University of Helsinki, and colleagues examined 1,035,928 men born in 1956 to 1968 and women born in 1956 to 1973 in Finland and 1,509,092 born in Sweden to the completion of their reproductive lifespan in 2018. Using a population and matched-pair case-control design of siblings discordant for childlessness (71,524 full sisters and 77,622 full brothers), sociodemographic and reproductive information was associated with 414 diseases across 16 categories.
The researchers found the associations were strongest for mental-behavioral disorders (especially among men), congenital anomalies, and endocrine-nutritional-metabolic disorders (strongest among women). New associations were identified for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The associations were dependent on age at onset; singlehood and education were mediators of the associations.
"We have comprehensively described the associations between different diseases, particularly those with onset prior to the peak reproductive age, and the chance of being childless over a lifetime," the authors write. "This evidence can be used as a basis for future studies focusing on prioritizing health interventions to counter involuntary childlessness."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted December 2023
Read this next
Child Maltreatment Linked to Externalizing, Internalizing Behavior
TUESDAY, May 14, 2024 -- Child maltreatment is associated with increases in externalizing and internalizing behaviors, according to a study published online May 14 in...
Physicians With Disabilities May Experience Depersonalization
MONDAY, May 13, 2024 -- Physicians with disabilities (PWDs) are significantly more likely to experience depersonalization but not emotional exhaustion when compared with their...
Virtual Reality Therapy Can Augment Depression Treatment
MONDAY, May 13, 2024 -- Extended reality-enhanced behavioral activation (XR-BA) may be a feasible, noninferior, and acceptable enhancement to traditional BA for major depressive...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.