Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

Childhood adversities are common and linked to increased risk of premature mortality, including deaths from accidents in early adulthood. We examined associations between childhood adversity and specific types of lethal accidents using nationwide register data from 1,282,636 individuals in the DANish LIFE course (DANLIFE) cohort born between Jan 1, 1980, and Dec 31, 2001, who did not die or emigrate before age 16. Individuals were classified into five trajectory groups based on annual exposure t...

BackgroundViolence across the life course is a persistent global problem with well-documented health and social consequences. Less is known about its relationship with labour market outcomes in high-income countries with strong social protections, such as Canada. This study examines whether lifetime exposure to physical or sexual violence is associated with labour force participation (LFP), reasons for economic inactivity, sectoral and occupational sorting, and income. MethodsWe analyzed data f...

The early childhood environment influences later mental health, but it remains unclear which aspects are most important for reducing inequalities. We quantified how socioeconomic inequalities in mental health at 5 and 17 years (y) would change under hypothetical interventions on five aspects of the early childhood environment. We analysed parent-reported data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n=15513). Socioeconomic circumstances (SEC) were assessed using maternal education at 9 months. Menta...

BackgroundChildren in contact with childrens social care (CSC) services have high levels of hospital utilisation, but patterns before and after referral remain insufficiently understood. ObjectiveTo evaluate healthcare utilisation two years before and after CSC referral. Participants and settingRetrospective cohort using ECHILD linked health and social care data, including children with a first CSC referral between 2009 and 2018 in England. MethodsWe compared monthly planned and unplanned hos...

BackgroundFamily court care proceedings are instigated to remove children at risk of harm from parental care. Limited information is available on the health of mothers involved in care proceedings. We assessed maternal mortality and causes of death within ten years of first birth, comparing first time mothers with and without care proceedings. MethodsUsing linked, administrative hospital and family court data, we followed a whole-population cohort of first-time mothers delivering between 2007 a...

BackgroundSmoking, unhealthy nutrition, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity (SNAP behaviours) are major risk factors for multimorbidity but are often studied in isolation. Using longitudinal data, Suhag et al. identified clusters of older adults (aged [≥]50) with common SNAP behaviour patterns and distinct sociodemographic profiles and multimorbidity prevalence; whether and how these patterns generalise across adulthood remains unclear. AimTo conceptually replicate Suhag et al. acro...

BackgroundSexual minority (SM) individuals have worse mental health than heterosexual peers. However, there is no total population-based and national-level evidence on differences in risk of self-harm and suicide by sexual orientation. This study provides the first national population-based estimates in England and Wales. MethodsUsing 2021 Census data linked with hospital records and death registrations, we analysed sexual orientation (SO) differences in: (i) at least one hospital inpatient adm...

BackgroundWorking while sick (presenteeism) with an infectious disease contributes to the spread of infections and is detrimental to productivity. Respiratory illnesses are a common cause of sickness in the working population and understanding the prevalence of presenteeism linked to respiratory illness is therefore important. MethodsWinter Covid Infection Study (WCIS) panel members in work aged 18-64 were surveyed in February - March 2024 and asked about presenteeism in the previous 28 days. M...

BackgroundPacked lunches are a common feature of early childhood food provision, yet evidence describing their nutritional composition in early years settings remains limited. Understanding the foods provided during this developmental period is important, given the potential influence of early dietary exposures on later health. AimTo characterise the composition, nutritional quality, cost, and dietary patterns of packed lunches brought from home in Early Childhood Education and Care settings, a...

Suicide is one of the worlds leading public health problems, with more than 720,000 deaths annually. Suicide has traditionally been studied from an individual perspective. However, research has increasingly highlighted the influence of community-level factors on suicide risk. This study aimed to (1) analyse the spatial distribution of suicide mortality at the provincial level in Spain (2018-2022); (2) perform stratified analyses by sex and age group; and (3) compare suicide risk across differen...

IMPORTANCEAdverse childhood experience (ACE) scores mask substantial heterogeneity within the 2-, 3-, and [≥]4-ACE exposure categories. The magnitude of this heterogeneity has not been sufficiently quantified. OBJECTIVETo quantify and visualise the heterogeneity of ACE scores. DESIGNCross-sectional analysis of the 2023 National Survey of Childrens Health, an address-based, nationally representative survey. SETTINGUS households. PARTICIPANTSA national sample of 385,000 addresses was drawn....

BackgroundDuring the early phase of the Covid-19 pandemic in England, people with pre-existing conditions that put them at severe clinical risk if infected were advised to drastically reduce face-to-face contacts in a policy known as "shielding". The impact of this policy in preventing COVID-19 hospitalisations and deaths has not been evaluated at the national level using transmission-dynamic modelling. MethodsWith the approval of NHS England, we present a retrospective cohort evaluation of the...

BackgroundHigher childhood (pre-morbid) cognitive function (IQ) appears to confer a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) episodes in adulthood, however, the underpinning mechanisms are uncertain. We tested the association between childhood cognitive ability and later CVD risk factors that may underpin this gradient. MethodsWe used data from two well-characterized prospective birth cohort studies initiated in the United Kingdom in 1958 (N=10870) and 1970 (N=9278). Cognitive function was qu...

BackgroundLung cancer compensation systems for occupational exposure to asbestos commonly apply Helsinki criteria, which assume 4% excess lung cancer risk per fibre-year of asbestos exposure. The Probability of Causation (PoC) is [≥]50% at 25 fibre-years (risk doubling threshold). Large case-control studies have suggested steeper exposure-response relations at lower exposures. We aimed to estimate PoC of asbestos-related lung cancer to evaluate exposure thresholds for compensation of lung ca...

BackgroundThe UK has the fourth highest estimated prevalence globally of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy (41%). It is therefore important to understand the long-term impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) by examining its impact on the development of adolescent multiple risk behaviours (MRBs) which may increase morbidity and premature mortality across the life-course. MethodsUsing Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort data with multiple imputation (n=...

ImportanceGenetic factors only explain [~]50% of an individuals lifetime CAD risk. Workplace pollution exposure likely represents a significant, under-recognized, and modifiable contributor. Clarifying its independent effect - distinct from residential air pollution - could inform targeted prevention, clinical risk assessment, and policy strategies. ObjectiveTo quantify the independent association between workplace pollution exposure and incident CAD, rigorously adjusting for canonical risk fac...

BackgroundSmoking is a major preventable risk factor for all-cause mortality and disability worldwide. It leads to age-related diseases, but the effects and reversibility of smoking behaviors on different epigenetic clocks are not fully explored. ObjectiveTo characterize the association of epigenetic age acceleration in whole blood with active and secondhand smoking (SHS), smoking intensity, and time since cessation among U.S. adults. MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study in adults from the N...

Students who frequently miss school are at greater risk for academic difficulty. High levels of absenteeism as early as kindergarten have been associated with long-term consequences, such as low reading proficiency in Grade 3 and low academic achievement in Grade 5, both of which have been associated with lower rates of high school graduation and enrollment in post-secondary education. The prevalence of school absenteeism has increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic and there have bee...

Young people are increasingly remaining in the parental home for longer - a trend associated with poorer mental health. There is little evidence on this transition for young people with disability. We used three waves of the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, a 5% sample of linked Census records. Two analyses compared transitions between 2011-2016 and 2016-2021 among people 15-34y living with parents at baseline with complete data on disability and housing. The proportion of people no longe...

BackgroundEarly life social determinants of health, such as childhood trauma, have implication on adverse health outcomes later in the life course. Our objective was to develop a childhood trauma measure within the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) - a large, diverse, U.S.-based aging cohort. MethodsData from the HRS Psychosocial and Lifestyle Questionnaire [2006-2016] and Life History Survey [2015-2017]) surveys collected thirteen binary items measuring self-reported exposure to early life adv...