Death of a child and the risk of atrial fibrillation: a nationwide cohort study in Sweden.
Eur Heart J
; 42(15): 1489-1495, 2021 04 14.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33515041
ABSTRACT
AIMS:
The role of psychological stress in the aetiology of atrial fibrillation (AF) is unclear. The death of a child is one of the most severe sources of stress. We aimed to investigate whether the death of a child is associated with an increased risk of AF. METHODS ANDRESULTS:
We studied parents with children born during 1973-2014 included the Swedish Medical Birth Register (n = 3 924 237). Information on death of a child, AF and socioeconomic, lifestyle and health-related covariates was obtained through linkage to nationwide population and health registers. We examined the link between death of a child and AF risk using Poisson regression. Parents who lost a child had a 15% higher risk of AF than unexposed parents [incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.15 (1.10-1.20)]. An increased risk of AF was observed not only if the child died due to cardiovascular causes [IRR (95% CI) 1.35 (1.17-1.56)], but also in case of deaths due to other natural [IRR (95% CI) 1.15 (1.09-1.21)] or unnatural [IRR (95% CI) 1.10 (1.02-1.19)] causes. The risk of AF was highest in the 1st week after the loss [IRR (95% CI) 2.87 (1.44-5.75)] and remained 10-40% elevated on the long term.CONCLUSIONS:
Death of a child was associated with a modestly increased risk of AF. Our finding that an increased risk was observed also after loss of a child due to unnatural deaths suggests that stress-related mechanisms may also be implicated in the development of AF.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fibrilação Atrial
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Child
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article