Psychosocial distress during pregnancy and the risk of infantile colic: a follow-up study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between psychosocial exposures during pregnancy and the risk of infantile colic.


METHODS
The study included 378 infants and was conducted as a substudy of the Danish National Birth Cohort from 1997 to 1999, with prenatal data collected twice during pregnancy. A diary with a record for postpartum weeks 4-8 was used to quantify the amount of the infants' crying and fussing.


RESULTS
The cumulative incidence proportion of infantile colic was 8.2%. A threefold increased risk of infantile colic (OR = 3.7; 95% CI: 1.1-13.2) was found for mothers who reported distress during pregnancy. Close to a twofold increased risk of IC was found for the women who scored higher than 8 on the psychological distress scale (adjusted OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 0.5-7.2).


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that general distress during pregnancy influences the risk of infantile colic. Whether or not this relationship is causal requires further investigations.
Søndergaard
C
C
The Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, University of Aarhus, Denmark. cos@dadlnet.dk
Olsen
J
J
Friis-Haschè
E
E
Dirdal
M
M
Thrane
N
N
Sørensen
H Toft
HT
D000328:Adult; D003085:Colic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008016:Life Change Events; D008499:Medical Records; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010500:Perinatology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011584:Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires