Stroke in parents who lost a child: a nationwide follow-up study in Denmark.
The association between psychological stress and stroke remains uncertain. We therefore examined whether or not one of the most extreme psychological stressors, the death of a child, was associated with the risk of stroke in a nationwide population-based follow-up study. All 21,062 parents who lost a child in Denmark during 1980-1996 were compared with 293,745 parents who had not lost a child. The overall adjusted relative risk (RR) of stroke was 1.00 (95% CI = 0.83-1.20) among the exposed after up to 18 years of follow-up. The RRs for fatal stroke and nonfatal stroke were 0.69 (95% CI = 0.37-1.26) and 1.03 (95% CI = 0.85-1.24), respectively. The RRs for hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic stroke were 1.02 (95% CI = 0.77-1.36) and 0.94 (95% CI = 0.74-1.20), respectively. The risk of stroke did not differ irrespective of whether the death of the child was unexpected or not. The death of a child was not associated with any substantially increased risk of stroke in the bereaved parents.
Li
Jiong
J
Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark. jl@soci.au.dk
Johnsen
Søren P
SP
Olsen
Jørn
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003643:Death; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012306:Risk; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*