Prevalence and Temporal Trends of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Medication Fills During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding in Denmark.

Background And Objectives: Females of reproductive age are increasingly using attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication, but its use during pregnancy and breastfeeding is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of ADHD medication fills during pregnancy and breastfeeding, including characteristics of these females and cohort differences over time.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive study using Danish nationwide registers.

Social selection in cohort studies and later representation of childhood psychiatric diagnoses: The Danish National Birth Cohort.

This study aimed to estimate the relative representation of childhood psychiatric diagnoses and use of psychotropic medication in the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) compared to the general population. The general population was identified as all childbirths in Denmark during 1998-2002 (=344,160). Linking the DNBC (=91,442) and the general population to the Danish national health registries, all children were followed until they received an ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis, had a prescription of psychotropic medication or to the end of follow-up in 2013.

The risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy - a re-examination using a sibling design.

Background: Conventional cohort studies have consistently shown that exposure to maternal smoking in pregnancy is associated with about twice the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the offspring. However, recent studies using alternative designs to disentangle the effect of social and genetic confounders have suggested that confounding may account for the association. In this study we aimed to estimate the association by a sibling design.

The Resilience Program: preliminary evaluation of a mentalization-based education program.

In order to manage with the burden of mental health problems in the world we need to develop cost-effective and safe preventive interventions. Education about resilience to support the ability to cope with life challenges in general, may be a useful strategy. We consider the concepts of Theory of Mind and Mentalization to be relevant in this context.

Prenatal parental separation and body weight, including development of overweight and obesity later in childhood.

Background: Early parental separation may be a stress factor causing a long-term alteration in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis activity possibly impacting on the susceptibility to develop overweight and obesity in offspring. We aimed to examine the body mass index (BMI) and the risk of overweight and obesity in children whose parents lived separately before the child was born.

Methods: A follow-up study was conducted using data from the Aarhus Birth Cohort in Denmark and included 2876 children with measurements of height and weight at 9-11-years-of-age, and self-reported information on parental cohabitation status at child birth and at 9-11-years-of-age.

Parental smoking during pregnancy and ADHD in children: the Danish national birth cohort.

Background: Prenatal maternal smoking has been associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, but the causal nature of this association is still under scrutiny. We examined the association with maternal smoking and nicotine replacement use during pregnancy, using association with paternal smoking as a marker of potential genetic or social confounding.

Methods: We included 84 803 singletons who participated in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Social conditions for people with Down syndrome: a register-based cohort study in Denmark.

Today, most persons with Down syndrome (DS) survive into middle age, but information on their social conditions as adults is limited. We addressed this knowledge gap using data from national registers in Denmark. We identified a national cohort of 1,998 persons with DS who were born between 1968 and 2007 (1,852 with standard trisomy 21, 80 with Robertsonian translocations and 66 with mosaicism) using the Danish Cytogenetic Register.

Prenatal maternal bereavement and congenital heart defects in offspring: a registry-based study.

Objectives: It has been suggested that maternal emotional stress during cardiogenesis may be a risk factor for congenital heart defects (CHD). We examined this association using bereavement around the time of conception as an indicator of maternal exposure to stress in a large registry-based study.

Methods: We identified 1,770,878 singletons born in Denmark from January 1, 1978, to December 31, 2008.

Cancer risks in parents who had a child with a congenital malformation.

Cancer risk in parents may be related to congenital malformations (CMs) in their children if they share genetic susceptibility or environmental exposure that may be teratogenic and carcinogenic. We conducted a population-based cohort study based on Danish register data. We identified 795,607 mothers and 781,424 fathers who had all their children between 1977 and 2007 in Denmark.

Hospitalizations among people with Down syndrome: a nationwide population-based study in Denmark.

Most persons with Down syndrome (DS) now survive to adulthood, but their health care needs beyond childhood are not well described. We followed a national cohort of 3,212 persons with DS and a reference cohort of persons without DS through the Danish National Hospital Register from January 1, 1977, to May 31, 2008. Poisson regression was used to calculate rate ratios for numbers of overnight hospital admissions and hospital days.

Risk for developmental coordination disorder correlates with gestational age at birth.

Background: Studies suggest that children born very preterm have a high risk of developmental coordination disorder (DCD). We examined the relation between the larger spectrum of gestational age at birth and the risk of DCD.

Methods:   We used the 7-year follow-up data from 22898 singletons in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Survival among people with Down syndrome: a nationwide population-based study in Denmark.

Purpose: Several studies have shown substantially longer survival among persons with Down syndrome in recent decades. We examined survival patterns among Danish persons with Down syndrome by karyotype.

Methods: A national cohort of 3,530 persons with Down syndrome identified from the Danish Cytogenetic Register and a reference cohort of persons without Down syndrome randomly selected from the general population were followed from 1 April 1968 to 15 January 2009 by linkages to the Register of Causes of Death and the Civil Registration System.

Infertility, infertility treatment and behavioural problems in the offspring.

Behavioural patterns in children of infertile couples may be influenced by both the underlying causes of infertility and stress in the couples. Treatment procedures, such as culture media and manipulation of gametes and embryos, may also result in developmental problems. We examined behavioural problems in children as a function of infertility and infertility treatment, using data from three population-based birth cohorts in Denmark (Aalborg-Odense Birth Cohort, Aarhus Birth Cohort and Danish National Birth Cohort).

Unemployment and pregnancy outcomes: a study within the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Aims: To explore the relation between employment status, type of unemployment and pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: A cohort study of 7,282 pregnancies of unemployed women and 56,014 pregnancies among women in paid jobs was performed within the Danish National Birth Cohort. Pregnancy outcomes were ascertained and information about lifestyle, occupational, medical, and obstetric factors was obtained.

Time to pregnancy among women with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To assess whether onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) prior to conception is associated with a delayed time to pregnancy (TTP).

Methods: The study included pregnant women from across Denmark who enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort between 1996 and 2002 and had planned or partly planned the cohort pregnancy. RA diagnosis was identified using the Danish National Hospital Discharge Registry.

Has fertility declined in recent decades?

Objective: Increasing use of infertility treatment and a decline in demographic fertility in some countries have raised concern whether human fecundity is declining or has declined over time. A dramatic decline in semen quality over the past half-century has been proposed and widely discussed, but none of the existing studies provide data good enough for coming to any firm conclusion.

Results: Results from 19 articles published during the last 5 years on semen quality and fecundity, covering data from the Nordic countries since the year 2000, do not indicate an ongoing decline in fertility.

Risk of infection and adverse outcomes among pregnant working women in selected occupational groups: A study in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Background: Exposure to infectious pathogens is a frequent occupational hazard for women who work with patients, children, animals or animal products. The purpose of the present study is to investigate if women working in occupations where exposure to infections agents is common have a high risk of infections and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: We used data from the Danish National Birth Cohort, a population-based cohort study and studied the risk of Infection and adverse outcomes in pregnant women working with patients, with children, with food products or with animals.

Parental infertility and cerebral palsy in children.

Background: Children born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have been reported to have a higher risk of cerebral palsy (CP), perhaps due to the higher frequency of preterm birth, multiple births or vanishing embryo in the pregnancies. However, it has been suggested that the underlying infertility may be part of the pathway. In this study, we examined whether untreated subfecundity (measured by time to pregnancy) or infertility treatment was associated with an increased risk of CP in the offspring.

Parental infertility and developmental coordination disorder in children.

Background: It has previously been reported that children born after infertility treatment had a slight delay in early motor milestones. In this study, we examined whether children of infertile couples with or without infertility treatment had a higher risk of developmental coordination disorder (DCD).

Methods: We used data on parental infertility and DCD among 23 167 singletons from the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996-2002).

Hospital work and pregnancy outcomes: a study in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

In hospitals, women of reproductive age do a range of work tasks, some of which are known to carry potential risks. Tasks such as working with radiation, chemicals, and infectious agents, as well as performing heavy lifting or tasks requiring erratic sleep patterns have been reported to increase the risk of reproductive failures. Our aim was to study pregnancy outcomes in female hospital workers in Denmark.

Infertility, infertility treatment, and mixed-handedness in children.

Background: Mixed-handedness, which may reflect atypical brain laterality, has been linked to a number of medical conditions as well as prenatal stress.

Aims: The aim of the study was to examine whether infertility or infertility treatment was associated with an increased risk of mixed-handedness in children. STUDY DESIGN, SUBJECTS AND OUTCOME MEASURES: We used data from three population-based birth cohorts in Denmark: the Aalborg-Odense Birth Cohort (1984-1987), the Aarhus Birth Cohort (1990-1992) and the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996-2002) (N=7728, 5720 and 29486, respectively).

Impact of post-abortion family planning services on contraceptive use and abortion rate among young women in China: a cluster randomised trial.

Objectives: To compare two post-abortion family planning (FP) service packages on contraceptive use and repeat abortion rate among young women in three cities in China.

Methods: In this cluster-randomized trial, one FP service package included provision of limited information and referral to existing FP services, and the other, more comprehensive, package consisted--in addition to the above simple package--of individual counselling, free provision of contraceptive materials, and involvement of the male partner. Eight matched pairs of hospitals were certified by centralized randomization.

Infertility, infertility treatment and psychomotor development: the Danish National Birth Cohort.

Babies born of infertile couples, regardless of treatment, have a higher risk of preterm birth and low birthweight, conditions associated with delayed development. We examined developmental milestones in singletons as a function of parental infertility [time to pregnancy (TTP) > 12 months] and infertility treatment. From the Danish National Birth Cohort (1997-2003), we identified 37 897 singletons born of fertile couples (TTP < or = 12 months), 4351 born of infertile couples conceiving naturally (TTP > 12 months), and 3309 born after infertility treatment.