Prenatal and Childhood Growth, and Hospitalization for Alcohol Use Disorders in Adulthood: The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study

Jari Lahti,Katri Räikkönen,Anu-Katriina Pesonen,David J P Barker,Tom Forsén,Johan G Eriksson,Marius Lahti,Eero Kajantie,Kati Heinonen,Clive Osmond,Kristian Wahlbeck

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0087404

Abstract

BackgroundSmall birth size - an indicator of a sub-optimal prenatal environment - and variation in growth after birth have been associated with non-communicable diseases in later life. We tested whether birth size or growth in childhood associated with the risk of hospital admission for alcohol use disorders (AUDs) from early to late adulthood.MethodsThe sample comprised 6544 men and 6050 women born between 1934 and 1944 in Helsinki, Finland. Data on anthropometric measures were extracted from medical records and diagnoses of AUD from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and Causes of Death Register covering a 40-year period from 1969 to 2008.ResultsAltogether 171 women (2.8%) and 657 men (10.0%) were diagnosed at a hospital with AUD. After adjusting for major confounders, shorter length at birth, shorter height up to two years of age, and lower weight at two years associated with hospitalization for AUD in women. In men, slower growth in height, particularly from 2 to 7 years, and slower weight gain from 7 to 11 years as well as shorter height and lower weight at 7 and 11 years associated with a diagnosis of AUD in men.ConclusionsPre- and postnatal growth associates with the risk for AUD later in life differently in women than in men: the fetal period and infancy seem to be the sensitive periods for women, whereas those for men the occur from toddlerhood onwards.

Highlights

In Western European societies, the lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence is around 5% to 8% with rates four to five times higher for men than for women [1,2]
Our study aimed to investigate whether length of gestation, body size at birth and physical growth measured serially from birth to 11 years of age associate with hospitalization for or death due to alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study (HBCS) sample
Low childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) associated with 46.1% higher odds (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 11.4–86.6%, p = 0.002) for AUDs than for high childhood SEP

Summary

Introduction

In Western European societies, the lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence is around 5% to 8% with rates four to five times higher for men than for women [1,2]. Within the developmental origins of health and disease framework (DOHaD), the associations between small birth size or slower growth in childhood and health outcomes in later life have been attributed to suboptimal environmental conditions during sensitive time periods that alter the structure and function of key organs such as the brain [6]. These environmental conditions include psychosocial stress and malnutrition, which are amenable to intervention [6,7]. We tested whether birth size or growth in childhood associated with the risk of hospital admission for alcohol use disorders (AUDs) from early to late adulthood

Methods

Results

Conclusion