title: Paternal age and common mental disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is evidence in the literature that there are associations between advancing paternal age and psychosis or more specifically schizophrenia, but not enough to support a strong link between advancing paternal age and common mental disorders.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to explain the association between paternal age at birth and common mental disorders in progeny during their adulthood.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a sub-study from a larger survey which was planned to study the epidemiology of mental disorders in Malaysia. Respondents who could remember the age of parents at birth were included in the study. The diagnosis of common mental disorders (CMD) was made using the CIS-R (Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised) instrument in the PROQSY (Programmed Questionnaire System) format. Association between paternal age at birth and CMD was studied using logistic regression, after controlling for age, gender, ethnicity and presence of family history of mental disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents with paternal age at birth of 19 and below and 50 above and had higher rates of 10 and 25% for common mental disorders (chi(2)=7.007, P=0.072) with odds ratios of 2.89 (95% CI of OR = 1.1-7.6) and 4.28 (1.4-12.7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Progenies of fathers under 20 and over 50 had higher risk for mental disorders. Factors such as immaturity in sperm of teenage fathers, mutation in germ line of older fathers, environmental and psychosocial factors could have contributed to increased prevalence of common mental disorders in the progeny.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Penang Medical College, Penang, Malaysia. Saroja54@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Saroja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnaswamy
authors.forename: Kavitha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Subramaniam
authors.forename: Haymanth
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Indran
authors.forename: Padma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ramachandran
authors.forename: Tishya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Indran
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Indran
authors.forename: Jemain Abdul
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Aziz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010331:Paternal Age; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult