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Early environmental factors and somatic comorbidity in schizophrenia and nonschizophrenic psychoses: A 50-year follow-up of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2020

Hanna Korpela*
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Cancer Research and Translational Medicine Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Jouko Miettunen
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Nina Rautio
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Unit of Primary Health Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
Matti Isohanni
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Marjo-Riitta Järvelin
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Unit of Primary Health Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC–PHE Center for Environment & Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kindom Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Erika Jääskeläinen
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
Juha Auvinen
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Unit of Primary Health Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
Sirkka Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Unit of Primary Health Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
Tanja Nordström
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Infrastructure for Population Studies, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Jussi Seppälä
Affiliation:
Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Department of Psychiatry and Substance Use, South Karelia Social and Health Care District, Lappeenranta, Finland
*
Hanna Korpela, E-mail: hanna.korpela@student.oulu.fi

Abstract

Background.

We studied the cumulative incidence of physical illnesses, and the effect of early environmental factors (EEFs) on somatic comorbidity in schizophrenia, in nonschizophrenic psychosis and among nonpsychotic controls from birth up to the age of 50 years.

Methods.

The sample included 10,933 members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, of whom, 227 had schizophrenia and 205 had nonschizophrenic psychosis. Diagnoses concerning physical illnesses were based on nationwide registers followed up to the end of 2016 and classified into 13 illness categories. Maternal education and age, family type at birth and paternal socioeconomic status were studied as EEFs of somatic illnesses.

Results.

When adjusted by gender and education, individuals and especially women with nonschizophrenic psychosis had higher risk of morbidity in almost all somatic illness categories compared to controls, and in some categories, compared to individuals with schizophrenia. The statistically significant adjusted hazard ratios varied from 1.27 to 2.42 in nonschizophrenic psychosis. Regarding EEFs, single-parent family as the family type at birth was a risk factor for a higher somatic score among men with schizophrenia and women with nonschizophrenic psychosis. Maternal age over 35 years was associated with lower somatic score among women with nonschizophrenic psychosis.

Conclusions.

Persons with nonschizophrenic psychoses have higher incidence of somatic diseases compared to people with schizophrenia and nonpsychotic controls, and this should be noted in clinical work. EEFs have mostly weak association with somatic comorbidity in our study.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020
Figure 0

Table 1. Gender, education and early environmental factors in individuals with schizophrenia, nonschizophrenic psychosis, and no psychosis in the NFBC 1966 cohort

Figure 1

Table 2. Somatic comorbidity in men and women with schizophrenia, nonschizophrenic psychoses, and nonpsychotic controls

Figure 2

Table 3. Somatic comorbidity in men with schizophrenia, nonschizophrenic psychoses, and nonpsychotic controls

Figure 3

Table 4. Somatic comorbidity in women with schizophrenia, nonschizophrenic psychoses, and nonpsychotic controls

Figure 4

Figure 1. Distribution of somatic score among people with schizophrenia (n = 227), nonschizophrenic psychosis (n = 205), and nonpsychotic controls (n = 10,501).

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