Mental health outcomes of adults born very preterm or with very low birth weight: A systematic review

Rachel Robinson; Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen; Daniel Schnitzlein; Falk Voit; Polina Girchenko; Dieter Wolke; Sakari Lemola; Eero Kajantie; Kati Heinonen; Katri Räikkönen

doi:10.1016/j.siny.2020.101113

Mental health outcomes of adults born very preterm or with very low birth weight: A systematic review

Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020 Jun;25(3):101113. doi: 10.1016/j.siny.2020.101113. Epub 2020 Apr 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology & Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: Rachel.robinson@helsinki.fi.
² Department of Psychology & Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; National Institute of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; University/British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Electronic address: marius.lahti-pulkkinen@helsinki.fi.
³ Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany; DIW Berlin, Berlin, Germany; IZA Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: schnitzlein@aoek.uni-hannover.de.
⁴ Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: voit@aeok.uni-hannover.de.
⁵ Department of Psychology & Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: polina.girchenko@helsinki.fi.
⁶ Mental Health and Wellbeing, Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom; Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: d.wolke@warwick.ac.uk.
⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany. Electronic address: s.lemola@warwick.ac.uk.
⁸ National Institute of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; PEDEGO Research Unit, Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu Finland; Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital and the University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: eero.kajantie@thl.fi.
⁹ Department of Psychology & Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: kati.heinonen@helsinki.fi.
¹⁰ Department of Psychology & Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: katri.raikkonen@helsinki.fi.

PMID: 32402835
DOI: 10.1016/j.siny.2020.101113

Abstract

Preterm birth research is poised to explore the mental health of adults born very preterm(VP; <32⁺⁰ weeks gestational age) and/or very low birth weight(VLBW; <1500g) through individual participant data meta-analyses, but first the previous evidence needs to be understood. We systematically reviewed and assessed the quality of the evidence from VP/VLBW studies with mental health symptoms or disorders appearing in adulthood, excluding childhood onset disorders. Participants (≥18 years, born >1970) included VP/VLBW individuals with controls born at term(≥37⁺⁰ weeks) or with normal birth weight(NBW; ≥2500g). Thirteen studies were included. Studies consistently showed an increased risk for psychotropic medication use for VP/VLBW adults in comparison to NBW/term controls, but whether VP/VLBW adults have an increased risk for mental health disorders or symptoms appearing in adulthood remains uncertain. The quality of the evidence was moderate (65.8%) to high (34.2%). Further research in larger samples is needed.

Keywords: Anxiety; Bipolar; Depression; Eating disorder; European Union; Externalizing; Horizon 2020; Internalizing; Mental disorder; PremLife; Premature; Preterm; Psychiatric diagnosis; Psychiatric disorder; RECAP; Review; Schizophrenia; VLBW; Very low birth weight.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Global Health
Humans
Infant, Extremely Premature*
Infant, Newborn
Infant, Very Low Birth Weight*
Mental Disorders / epidemiology
Mental Disorders / etiology*
Risk Factors