- Parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders were more likely to be diagnosed with heart disease.
- The risk ratio was 1.27 for mothers and 1.20 for fathers.
- The risk increased with the number of children affected, and the risk was higher if the offspring had concomitant health conditions.
A national cohort study from Sweden has shown that parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders may have an increased risk of heart disease.
Compared with parents whose children had no neurodevelopmental disorders, those who had children had an increased risk of any cardiovascular disease over a mean follow-up of 16 years (hazard ratio (HR) 1.27, 95% CI 1.25-1.29 for mothers and HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.18-1.22 for fathers), said Hui Wang, PhD, of Karolinska Institutet. Told. Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues.
They reported that the risk increased with the number of affected children, with HRs in mothers of 1, 2, or 3 children being 1.22, 1.39, and 1.66, respectively, and in fathers of 1.16, 1.33, and 1.50. In JAMA Pediatrics.
He said the risk of any heart disease is higher if the child has co-existing health conditions.
Additionally, an association with cardiovascular risk was seen for all 3 neurodevelopmental disorders – intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
“Although the effect size was modest and immediate clinical implications may be limited, the findings may still be relevant at the population level given the high prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders,” Wang reported. Medpage Today In an email. “These results highlight the importance of considering the parent’s health and well-being, in addition to the child’s needs.”
The study is an important reminder that caregivers should also pay attention to themselves, “because if we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t take better care of our loved ones,” told cardiologist Nishant Shah, MD, of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, who was not involved in the study. Medpage Today.
Shah, who is also a member of the American College of Cardiology Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Council, explained that parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders may not be able to exercise as much as they want or focus on their diet, forget to take their medications, or not visit their primary care physician or cardiologist regularly.
Wang and colleagues write that chronic psychological stress, often seen among parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders, can lead to “a range of stress-mediated biological processes.” These processes can lead to higher levels of inflammatory cytokines as well as adverse cardiometabolic and hemostatic changes, he said, “which may contribute to the development and progression of cardiovascular disease over time.” Furthermore, “shared hereditary components may predispose individuals to both mental disorders and heart disease.”
According to the specific type of heart disease, the risk ratios for mothers and fathers, respectively, were:
- Ischemic heart disease: 1.31 (1.24-1.39); 1.13 (1.08-1.17)
- Cerebrovascular disease: 1.27 (1.20-1.35); 1.13 (1.07-1.19)
- Heart failure: 1.28 (1.16-1.40); 1.04 (0.98-1.11)
- Hypertensive disease: 1.34 (1.31-1.38); 1.23 (1.21-1.26)
- atrial fibrillation: 1.08 (1.01-1.16); 0.97 (0.93-1.02)
- Cardiomyopathy: 1.30 (1.14-1.48); 1.03 (0.92-1.15)
- Peripheral artery disease: 1.36 (1.16-1.59); 0.96 (0.83-1.11)
Wang and colleagues said the greater relative risk of heart disease in mothers compared to fathers was consistent with previous findings that mothers “experience a greater burden of physical and mental health challenges” when children have health problems.
In sibling comparison analyses, the adjusted risk ratios remained consistent with the main analyses, suggesting that the study’s findings “cannot be solely explained by genetic or environmental factors,” they wrote.
The study sample included 1,180,457 mothers with an average age of 49.3 years and 882,619 fathers with an average age of 51.2 years. A total of 196,840 mothers (16.7%) and 168,582 fathers (19.1%) were diagnosed with any cardiovascular disease during follow-up.
The researchers linked national registry data from parents in Sweden with at least 1 live singleton birth between January 1, 1987, and December 31, 2014. Parents were followed from the birth of their first child until the first diagnosis of heart disease, death, emigration from Sweden, or December 31, 2023, whichever came first.
Limitations include that the findings may not be generalizable outside Sweden and that there may be some misclassification of neurodevelopmental disorders and cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, the researchers said, “caution is needed when interpreting the potential mediating role of postexposure psychiatric disorders.”
Furthermore, potential factors such as physical activity, sleep patterns and diet, as well as socio-economic characteristics were measured only at baseline. Monitoring bias was also a potential concern.
