Evidence from Finland and Sweden on the relationship between early-life diseases and lifetime childlessness in men and women
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Population-based register cohort and sibling-matched case-control study
OpenAlex W4389893835 · doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01763-x
What was done
Nationwide register data were analyzed for all individuals born in 1956–1968 (men) and 1956–1973 (women) in Finland (n = 1,035,928) and Sweden (n = 1,509,092) followed through 2018. The researchers evaluated associations between 414 diseases across 16 categories and lifetime childlessness using population-level analyses and a matched-pair case-control design of siblings discordant for childlessness (71,524 full sisters and 77,622 full brothers).
What was found
Mental-behavioural disorders showed the strongest associations with childlessness (particularly in men), followed by congenital anomalies and endocrine-nutritional-metabolic disorders (strongest in women). New associations were identified for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Associations varied by age at disease onset and were mediated by singlehood and education. Specific numerical effect sizes were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
This study provides large-scale population evidence linking a wide range of early-life physical and psychiatric diseases to lifetime childlessness across both sexes.
Limits
The abstract reports no numerical effect sizes or risk estimates. As an observational register study, residual confounding cannot be ruled out, the data cannot directly differentiate voluntary from involuntary childlessness, and findings from Nordic populations may not fully generalize to other social contexts.
Cited by
- supports In Western nations, approximately 75% of men reproduce.