title: Impact of parental multiple sclerosis on early childhood development: A retrospective cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to parental chronic illness is associated with several adverse developmental outcomes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We examined the association between parental multiple sclerosis (MS) and childhood developmental outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study in Manitoba, Canada, using linked databases. The outcome was childhood development at 5 years of age, expressed as vulnerability (absent vs. present) on the Early Development Instrument (EDI). Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with an MS parent (n=153) were similar to children of unaffected parents (n=876) on all EDI domains. However, mental health morbidity was more common among MS parents compared with non-MS parents 49.5% vs. 35.3%. Among MS parents, mental health morbidity was associated with children's vulnerability on the social competence (OR, 5.73 [95% CI:1.11-29.58]) and emotional maturity (OR, 3.03 [95% CI:1.03-8.94]) domains. The duration of child's exposure to parental MS was associated with vulnerability on the physical health domain (OR, 1.49 [95%CI:1.03-2.15]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parental MS was not associated with adverse early childhood developmental outcomes. However, children of parents with mental health morbidity, and those with longer duration of exposure to parental MS, were at higher risk for early childhood developmental vulnerability.
authors.affiliation: School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Razaz
authors.affiliation: Brain Research Centre and Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology), Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada/Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tremlett
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
authors.forename: W Thomas
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Boyce
authors.affiliation: School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guhn
authors.affiliation: School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada/Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine and Community Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada rmarrie@hsc.mb.ca.
authors.forename: Ruth Ann
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Marrie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Child development; administrative databases; child of impaired parents; developmental outcomes; multiple sclerosis; parental chronic illness; population-based studies