Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T17:36:24.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paternal and maternal ages at conception and risk of bipolar affective disorder in their offspring

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2009

P. R. Menezes ,
G. Lewis ,
F. Rasmussen ,
S. Zammit ,
A. Sipos ,
G. L. Harrison ,
P. Tynelius  and
D. Gunnell
P. R. Menezes
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
G. Lewis
Affiliation:
Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
F. Rasmussen*
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Public Health Epidemiology Group, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
S. Zammit
Affiliation:
Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Department of Psychological Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
A. Sipos
Affiliation:
Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
G. L. Harrison
Affiliation:
Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
P. Tynelius
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent Public Health Epidemiology Group, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
D. Gunnell
Affiliation:
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor F. Rasmussen, Child and Adolescent Public Health Epidemiology Group, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, SE-17176Stockholm, Sweden. (Email: finn.rasmussen@ki.se)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

A consistent association between paternal age and their offspring's risk of schizophrenia has been observed, with no independent association with maternal age. The relationship of paternal and maternal ages with risk of bipolar affective disorders (BPAD) in the offspring is less clear. The present study aimed at testing the hypothesis that paternal age is associated with their offspring's risk of BPAD, whereas maternal age is not.

Method

This population-based cohort study was conducted with individuals born in Sweden during 1973–1980 and still resident there at age 16 years. Outcome was first hospital admission with a diagnosis of BPAD. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using Cox's proportional hazard regression.

Results

After adjustment for all potential confounding variables except maternal age, the HR for risk of BPAD for each 10-year increase in paternal age was 1.28 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11–1.48], but this fell to 1.20 (95% CI 0.97–1.48) after adjusting for maternal age. A similar result was found for maternal age and risk of BPAD [HR 1.30 (95% CI 1.08–1.56) before adjustment for paternal age, HR 1.12 (95% CI 0.86–1.45) after adjustment]. The HR associated with having either parent aged 30 years or over was 1.26 (95% CI 1.01–1.57) and it was 1.45 (95% CI 1.16–1.81) if both parents were >30 years.

Conclusions

Unlike schizophrenia, the risk of BPAD seems to be associated with both paternal and maternal ages.

Keywords

Bipolar affective disordercohort studyepidemiologypaternal agerisk factors
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , March 2010 , pp. 477 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agid, O, Shapira, B, Zislin, J, Ritsner, M, Hanin, B, Murad, H, Troudart, T, Bloch, M, Heresco-Levy, U, Lerer, B (1999). Environment and vulnerability to major psychiatric illness: a case control study of early parental loss in major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Molecular Psychiatry 4, 163–172.Google Scholar
Armitage, P, Berry, G (1994). Statistical Methods in Medical Research. Blackwell Science Ltd: Oxford.Google Scholar
Brown, AS, Schaefer, CA, Wyatt, RJ, Begg, MD, Goetz, R, Bresnahan, MA, Harkavy-Friedman, J, Gorman, JM, Malaspina, D, Susser, ES (2002). Paternal age and risk of schizophrenia in adult offspring. American Journal of Psychiatry 159, 1528–1533.Google Scholar
Byrne, M, Agerbo, E, Ewald, H, Eaton, WW, Mortensen, PB (2003). Parental age and risk of schizophrenia: a case–control study. Archives of General Psychiatry 60, 673–678.Google Scholar
Choi, JY, Lee, KM, Park, SK, Noh, DY, Ahn, SH, Yoo, KY, Kang, D (2005). Association of paternal age at birth and the risk of breast cancer in offspring: a case control study. BMC Cancer 5, 143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craddock, N, O'Donovan, MC, Owen, MJ (2006). Genes for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder? Implications for psychiatric nosology. Schizophrenia Bulletin 32, 9–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crow, JF (1997). The high spontaneous mutation rate: is it a health risk? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 94, 8380–8386.Google Scholar
Crow, JF (2000). The origins, patterns and implications of human spontaneous mutation. Nature Reviews Genetics 1, 40–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ekeus, C, Olausson, PO, Hjern, A (2006). Psychiatric morbidity is related to parental age: a national cohort study. Psychological Medicine 36, 269–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
El-Saadi, O, Pedersen, CB, McNeil, TF, Saha, S, Welham, J, O'Callaghan, E, Cantor-Graae, E, Chant, D, Mortensen, PB, McGrath, J (2004). Paternal and maternal age as risk factors for psychosis: findings from Denmark, Sweden and Australia. Schizophrenia Research 67, 227–236.Google Scholar
Farmer, A, Elkin, A, McGuffin, P (2007). The genetics of bipolar affective disorder. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 20, 8–12.Google Scholar
Frans, EM, Sandin, S, Reichenberg, A, Lichtenstein, P, Längström, N, Hultman, CM (2008). Advancing paternal age and bipolar disorder. Archives of General Medicine 65, 1034–1040.Google Scholar
Glaser, RL, Jabs, EW (2004). Dear old dad. Science of Aging Knowledge Environment 2004, re1.Google Scholar
Harlap, S, Paltiel, O, Deutsch, L, Knaanie, A, Masalha, S, Tiram, E, Caplan, LS, Malaspina, D, Friedlander, Y (2002). Paternal age and preeclampsia. Epidemiology 13, 660–667.Google Scholar
Harrison, G, Fouskakis, D, Rasmussen, F, Tynelius, P, Sipos, A, Gunnell, D (2003). Association between psychotic disorder and urban place of birth is not mediated by obstetric complications or childhood socio-economic position: a cohort study. Psychological Medicine 33, 723–731.Google Scholar
Malaspina, D, Corcoran, C, Fahim, C, Berman, A, Harkavy-Friedman, J, Yale, S, Goetz, D, Goetz, R, Harlap, S, Gorman, J (2002). Paternal age and sporadic schizophrenia: evidence for de novo mutations. American Journal of Medical Genetics 114, 299–303.Google Scholar
Malaspina, D, Harlap, S, Fennig, S, Heiman, D, Nahon, D, Feldman, D, Susser, ES (2001). Advancing paternal age and the risk of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 58, 361–367.Google Scholar
Morgan, C, Kirkbride, J, Leff, J, Craig, T, Hutchinson, G, McKenzie, K, Morgan, K, Dazzan, P, Doody, GA, Jones, P, Murray, R, Fearon, P (2007). Parental separation, loss and psychosis in different ethnic groups: a case–control study. Psychological Medicine 37, 495–503.Google Scholar
Pulver, AE, McGrath, JA, Liang, KY, Lasseter, VK, Nestadt, G, Wolyniec, PS (2004). An indirect test of the new mutation hypothesis associating advanced paternal age with the etiology of schizophrenia. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics 124, 6–9.Google Scholar
Reichenberg, A, Gross, R, Weiser, M, Bresnahan, M, Silverman, J, Harlap, S, Rabinowitz, J, Shulman, C, Malaspina, D, Lubin, G, Knobler, HY, Davidson, M, Susser, E (2006). Advancing paternal age and autism. Archives of General Psychiatry 63, 1026–1032.Google Scholar
Reichman, NE, Teitler, JO (2006). Paternal age as a risk factor for low birthweight. American Journal of Public Health 96, 862–866.Google Scholar
Rothman, KJ, Greenland, S (1998). Modern Epidemiology. Lippincott-Raven: Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Shih, RA, Belmonte, PL, Zandi, PP (2004). A review of the evidence from family, twin and adoption studies for a genetic contribution to adult psychiatric disorders. International Review of Psychiatry 16, 260–283.Google Scholar
Sipos, A, Rasmussen, F, Harrison, G, Tynelius, P, Lewis, G, Leon, DA, Gunnell, D (2004). Paternal age and schizophrenia: a population based cohort study. British Medical Journal 329, 1070–1074.Google Scholar
Wohl, M, Gorwood, P (2007). Paternal ages below or above 35 years old are associated with a different risk of schizophrenia in the offspring. European Psychiatry 22, 22–26.Google Scholar
Yang, Q, Wen, SW, Leader, A, Chen, XK, Lipson, J, Walker, M (2007). Paternal age and birth defects: how strong is the association? Human Reproduction 22, 696–701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zammit, S, Allebeck, P, Dalman, C, Lundberg, I, Hemmingson, T, Owen, MJ, Lewis, G (2003). Paternal age and risk for schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry 183, 405–408.Google Scholar
Zhu, JL, Madsen, KM, Vestergaard, M, Olesen, AV, Basso, O, Olsen, J (2005). Paternal age and congenital malformations. Human Reproduction 20, 3173–3177.Google Scholar