The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries
While the rare occurrence of child loss is accompanied by reduced life expectancy of parents in contemporary affluent populations, its impact in developing societies with high child mortality rates is unclear. We identified all parents in Iceland born 1800–1996 and compared the mortality rates of 47...
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doaj-f9593e4700d8493c960be1933189da192021-05-05T18:05:22ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2019-11-01810.7554/eLife.43476The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuriesUnnur A Valdimarsdóttir0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5382-946XDonghao Lu1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4186-8661Sigrún H Lund2Katja Fall3Fang Fang4Þórður Kristjánsson5Daníel Guðbjartsson6Agnar Helgason7Kári Stefánsson8Center of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, SwedenCenter of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United StatesdeCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, IcelandDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden; Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, SwedenDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, SwedendeCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, IcelanddeCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland; School of Engineering and Natural, Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, IcelanddeCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland; Department of Anthropology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, IcelanddeCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland; Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, IcelandWhile the rare occurrence of child loss is accompanied by reduced life expectancy of parents in contemporary affluent populations, its impact in developing societies with high child mortality rates is unclear. We identified all parents in Iceland born 1800–1996 and compared the mortality rates of 47,711 parents who lost a child to those of their siblings (N = 126,342) who did not. The proportion of parents who experienced child loss decreased from 61.1% of those born 1800–1880 to 5.2% of those born after 1930. Child loss was consistently associated with increased rate of maternal, but not paternal, death before the age of 50 across all parent birth cohorts; the relative increase in maternal mortality rate ranged from 35% among mothers born 1800–1930 to 64% among mothers born after 1930. The loss of a child poses a threat to the survival of young mothers, even during periods of high infant mortality rates.https://elifesciences.org/articles/43476child losspsychological stressmortalityattachmentsex differencedemography |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Unnur A Valdimarsdóttir Donghao Lu Sigrún H Lund Katja Fall Fang Fang Þórður Kristjánsson Daníel Guðbjartsson Agnar Helgason Kári Stefánsson |
spellingShingle |
Unnur A Valdimarsdóttir Donghao Lu Sigrún H Lund Katja Fall Fang Fang Þórður Kristjánsson Daníel Guðbjartsson Agnar Helgason Kári Stefánsson The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries eLife child loss psychological stress mortality attachment sex difference demography |
author_facet |
Unnur A Valdimarsdóttir Donghao Lu Sigrún H Lund Katja Fall Fang Fang Þórður Kristjánsson Daníel Guðbjartsson Agnar Helgason Kári Stefánsson |
author_sort |
Unnur A Valdimarsdóttir |
title |
The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries |
title_short |
The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries |
title_full |
The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries |
title_fullStr |
The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries |
title_full_unstemmed |
The mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries |
title_sort |
mother’s risk of premature death after child loss across two centuries |
publisher |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
series |
eLife |
issn |
2050-084X |
publishDate |
2019-11-01 |
description |
While the rare occurrence of child loss is accompanied by reduced life expectancy of parents in contemporary affluent populations, its impact in developing societies with high child mortality rates is unclear. We identified all parents in Iceland born 1800–1996 and compared the mortality rates of 47,711 parents who lost a child to those of their siblings (N = 126,342) who did not. The proportion of parents who experienced child loss decreased from 61.1% of those born 1800–1880 to 5.2% of those born after 1930. Child loss was consistently associated with increased rate of maternal, but not paternal, death before the age of 50 across all parent birth cohorts; the relative increase in maternal mortality rate ranged from 35% among mothers born 1800–1930 to 64% among mothers born after 1930. The loss of a child poses a threat to the survival of young mothers, even during periods of high infant mortality rates. |
topic |
child loss psychological stress mortality attachment sex difference demography |
url |
https://elifesciences.org/articles/43476 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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