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Seizures are often found in children with fetal alcohol syndrome, but it is not known whether binge drinking during pregnancy by nonalcoholic women is associated with an increased risk of seizure disorders in children. The authors conducted a population-based cohort study of 80,526 liveborn singletons in the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996-2002). Information on maternal binge drinking (intake of > or = 5 drinks on a single occasion) was collected in 2 computer-assisted telephone interviews during pregnancy. Children were followed for up to 8 years. Information on neonatal seizures, epilepsy, and febrile seizures was retrieved from the Danish National Hospital Register. Results showed that exposure to binge drinking episodes during pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of seizure disorders in children, except for those exposed at 11-16 gestational weeks. These children had a 3.15-fold increased risk of neonatal seizures (95% confidence interval: 1.37, 7.25) and a 1.81-fold increased risk of epilepsy (95% confidence interval: 1.13, 2.90). These findings suggest that maternal binge drinking during a specific time period of pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of specific seizure disorders in the offspring. The results are exploratory, however, and need to be replicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors evaluated the association between gestational age, birth weight, intrauterine growth, and epilepsy in a population-based cohort of 1.4 million singletons born in Denmark (1979-2002). A total of 14,334 inpatients (1979-2002) and outpatients (1995-2002) with epilepsy were registered in the Danish National Hospital Register. Children who were potentially growth restricted were identified through two methods: 1) sex-, birth-order-, and gestational-age-specific z score of birth weight; and 2) deviation from the expected birth weight estimated based on the birth weight of an older sibling. The incidence rates of epilepsy increased consistently with decreasing gestational age and birth weight. The incidence rate ratios of epilepsy in the first year of life were more than fivefold among children born at 22-32 weeks compared with 39-41 weeks and among children whose birth weight was <2,000 g compared with 3,000-3,999 g. The association was modified by age but remained into early adulthood. Incidence rate ratios of epilepsy were increased among children identified as growth restricted according to either of the two methods. In conclusion, short gestational age, low birth weight, and intrauterine growth restriction are associated with an increased risk of epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of lifestyle in development of herpes zoster remains unclear. We examined whether smoking status, alcohol consumption, body mass index, or physical activity were associated with zoster risk. We followed a population-based cohort of 101,894 respondents to the 2010 Danish National Health Survey (baseline, May 1, 2010) until zoster diagnosis, death, emigration, or July 1, 2014, whichever occurred first. We computed hazard ratios for zoster associated with each exposure, using Cox regression with age as the time scale and adjusting for potential confounders. Compared with never smokers, hazards for zoster were increased in former smokers (1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 1.30), but not in current smokers (1.00, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.13). Compared with low-risk alcohol consumption, neither intermediate-risk (0.95, 95% CI: 0.84, 1.07) nor high-risk alcohol consumption (0.99, 95% CI: 0.85, 1.15) was associated with zoster. We also found no increased hazard associated with weekly binge drinking versus not (0.93, 95% CI: 0.77, 1.11). Risk of zoster varied little by body mass index (referent = normal weight) and physical activity levels (referent = light level), with hazard ratios between 0.96 and 1.08. We observed no dose-response association between the exposures and zoster. The examined lifestyle and anthropometric factors thus were not risk factors for zoster., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.)

We examined the association between mood disorders and risk of herpes zoster in two case-control studies using data from nationwide Danish registries and practices in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We included incident zoster cases diagnosed in general practice (using systemic antivirals as a proxy in Denmark) or hospital during 1997-2013 in Denmark (n = 190,671) and during 2000-2013 in the United Kingdom (n = 177,361). We risk-set sampled 4 matched population controls per case. Conditional logistic regression analyses adjusting for zoster risk factors showed that the odds ratios for previous mood disorder among cases versus controls were 1.15 (99% confidence interval (CI): 1.12, 1.19; prevalence 7.1% vs. 6.0%) in Denmark and 1.12 (99% CI: 1.11, 1.14; prevalence 31.6% vs. 29.2%) in the United Kingdom. In Denmark, odds ratios were higher for anxiety (1.23; 99% CI: 1.17, 1.30) and severe stress and adjustment disorder (1.24; 99% CI: 1.18, 1.30) than for depression (1.11; 99% CI: 1.07, 1.14). In the United Kingdom, odds ratios for these conditions were similar: 1.12 (99% CI: 1.10, 1.13), 1.12 (99% CI: 1.10, 1.14), and 1.14 (99% CI: 1.10, 1.19) for depression, anxiety, and severe stress and adjustment disorder, respectively. In conclusion, mood disorders were associated with an increased risk of zoster.

Multimorbidity is common and is associated with poor mental health and high mortality. Nevertheless, no studies have evaluated whether mental health may affect the survival of people with multimorbidity. We investigated the association between perceived stress and mortality in people with multimorbidity by following a population-based cohort of 118,410 participants from the Danish National Health Survey 2010 for up to 4 years. Information on perceived stress and lifestyle was obtained from the survey. We assessed multimorbidity using nationwide register data on 39 conditions and identified 4,229 deaths for the 453,648 person-years at risk. Mortality rates rose with increasing levels of stress in a dose-response relationship (P-trend < 0.0001), independently of multimorbidity status. Mortality hazard ratios (highest stress quintile vs. lowest) were 1.51 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25, 1.84) among persons without multimorbidity, 1.39 (95% CI: 1.18, 1.64) among those with 2 or 3 conditions, and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.18, 1.73) among those with 4 or more conditions, when adjusted for disease severities, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status. The numbers of excess deaths associated with high stress were 69 among persons without multimorbidity, 128 among those with 2 or 3 conditions, and 255 among those with 4 or more conditions. Our findings suggested that perceived stress contributes significantly to higher mortality rates in a dose-response pattern, and more stress-associated deaths occurred in people with multimorbidity., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Increasing evidence suggests that maternal stress during pregnancy may influence pregnancy outcomes. In a nationwide Swedish study including almost 3 million births taking place during 1973-2006, we investigated whether maternal bereavement during pregnancy is associated with stillbirth risk. Through individual record linkage between several population-based registers, we obtained information on demographic, health-related, and pregnancy-related factors and deaths of mothers' first-degree relatives. There were 11,071 stillbirths (3.8 per 1,000 births) in the cohort. After adjustment for potential confounders, infants of mothers who had lost any first-degree relative the year before or during pregnancy had an 18% higher risk of stillbirth than unexposed offspring (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 1.31). Corresponding hazard ratios were 1.67 (95% CI: 1.18, 2.36) for maternal loss of an older child, 2.06 (95% CI: 1.44, 2.94) for loss of a sibling, and 1.07 (95% CI: 0.95, 1.21) for loss of a parent. The relationship between maternal bereavement and stillbirth did not vary by time of death or by whether the relative's death was expected or unexpected. Death of a close relative is one of the most severe sources of stress, and future studies need to investigate whether less severe but more common stressors also increase stillbirth risk.

A family history of seizures, preexisting brain damage, or birth complications may modify the long-term risk of epilepsy after febrile seizures. The authors evaluated the association between febrile seizures and epilepsy in a population-based cohort of 1.54 million persons born in Denmark (1978-2002), including 49,857 persons with febrile seizures and 16,481 persons with epilepsy. Overall, for children with febrile seizures compared with those without such seizures, the rate ratio for epilepsy was 5.43 (95% confidence interval: 5.19, 5.69). The risk remained high during the entire follow-up but was particularly high shortly after the first febrile seizure, especially in children who experienced early (<1 year of age) or late (>3 years of age) onset of febrile seizures. At 23 years of follow-up, the overall cumulative incidence of epilepsy after febrile seizures was 6.9% (95% confidence interval: 6.5, 7.3). In conclusion, persons with a history of febrile seizures had a higher rate of epilepsy that lasted into adult life, but less than 7 percent of children with febrile seizures developed epilepsy during 23 years of follow-up. The risk was higher for those who had a family history of epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or low Apgar scores at 5 minutes.

Research suggests that heredity and early fetal development play a causal role in autism. This case-control study explored the association between perinatal factors, parental psychiatric history, socioeconomic status, and risk of autism. The study was nested within a cohort of all children born in Denmark after 1972 and at risk of being diagnosed with autism until December 1999. Prospectively recorded data were obtained from nationwide registries in Denmark. Cases totaled 698 children with a diagnosis of autism; each case was individually matched by gender, birth year, and age to 25 controls. Analyses by conditional logistic regression produced risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Adjusted analyses showed that the risk of autism was associated with breech presentation (risk ratio (RR) = 1.63, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18, 2.26), low Apgar score at 5 minutes (RR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.10, 3.27), gestational age at birth <35 weeks (RR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.55, 3.86), and parental psychiatric history (schizophrenia-like psychosis: RR = 3.44, 95% CI: 1.48, 7.95; affective disorder: RR = 2.91, 95% CI: 1.65, 5.14). Analyses showed no statistically significant association between risk of autism and weight for gestational age, parity, number of antenatal visits, parental age, or socioeconomic status. Results suggest that prenatal environmental factors and parental psychopathology are associated with the risk of autism. These factors seem to act independently.