Associations Between Fetal Growth and Self-Perceived Health Throughout Adulthood: A Co-twin Control Study.
Behav Genet
; 46(3): 457-66, 2016 May.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26725048
ABSTRACT
The literature shows evidence for long-lasting effects of low birth weight (LBW) on many health outcomes, but little is known about effects on self-perceived health. Findings are mixed and studies are small, mostly focusing on LBW effects on health outcomes before adulthood. Further, as LBW and most health conditions including self-perceived health are partly heritable, associations between birth weight (BW) and adverse health outcomes may also be due to shared genetic as well as other (pre- and postnatal) unmeasured environmental influences. We explored LBW effects on self-perceived health in early and later adulthood using a very large and genetically informative sample of more than 50,000 Swedish twins. In addition, analyses within twin pairs (the co-twin control design) were used to examine potential associations between BW and the offspring's risk for poor self-perceived health independent of shared environmental or genetic factors, evidence which is critical for the understanding of underlying mechanisms. Results showed that lower BW was significantly associated with poorer self-perceived health during adulthood, although the effect size was small. Co-twin control analyses suggested that this increased risk may be due to shared underlying liability (environmental or genetic) rather than a direct effect of BW, but findings were not conclusive.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Autoimagen
/
Gemelos
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Salud
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Desarrollo Fetal
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
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Incidence_studies
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Observational_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Behav Genet
Año:
2016
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suecia