1. Exposure to family and domestic violence in the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for bronchiolitis in children under 2 years.
- Author
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Orr, Carol, Kelty, Erin, Belinelo, Patricia, Fisher, Colleen, Glauert, A Rebecca, O'Donnell, Melissa, and Preen, David B
- Subjects
RISK assessment ,VIOLENCE ,RESEARCH funding ,BRONCHIOLE diseases ,RETROSPECTIVE studies ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,HOSPITAL care of newborn infants ,LONGITUDINAL method ,DOMESTIC violence ,COMPARATIVE studies ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,PROPORTIONAL hazards models ,SOCIAL classes ,DISEASE risk factors ,CHILDREN - Abstract
Background Existing research has acknowledged a correlation between stress in pregnancy and poorer respiratory health in offspring. However, research focusing on stress caused by family and domestic violence in the prenatal period is missing. Methods A retrospective cohort study included children born 1987–2010 who were identified as being exposed to FDV in the prenatal period (n = 1477) from two sources: WA Police Information Management System and WA Hospital Morbidity Data Collection (HMDC) and a non-exposed comparison group (n = 41 996). Hospitalization for bronchiolitis was identified in HMDC. Cox regression was used to estimate the adjusted and unadjusted hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval for bronchiolitis hospitalizations contact. Results Children exposed to FDV had a 70% (HR 1.70, 95% CI: 1.49–1.94) increased risk of hospitalization for bronchiolitis than non-exposed counterparts by age two. Children exposed to FDV had a longer average hospital stay for bronchiolitis than non-exposed children (4.0 days vs. 3.8 days, P < 0.001). Conclusions Prenatal exposure to FDV is associated with bronchiolitis hospitalization in children <2 years. Along with other risk factors, clinicians should give consideration to maternal stress factors, including experiencing FDV as a potential contributor to bronchiolitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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