Neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia : a vulnerability factor for mental disorder?

• Published in: Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 100; no. 6; pp. 469 - 471
• Main Authors: DALMAN, C, CULLBERG, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell 01.12.1999
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Child clinical studies; Cohort Studies; Delivery. Postpartum. Lactation; Disorders; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Hospitalization; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Jaundice, Neonatal - complications; Jaundice, Neonatal - psychology; Male; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Mental Disorders - etiology; Miscellaneous; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Assessment; Sweden; Europe; Social environment; Human; Neonatal; Prevalence; Schizophrenia; Vulnerability; Obstetrics; Psychosis; Hyperbilirubinemia; Follow up study; Risk factor; Mental disorder; Complication
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1999.tb10899.x

Various studies have shown an association between obstetric complications and psychiatric illness. There is a lack of specific aetiological explanations. A possible mechanism contributing to cerebral vulnerability is neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia (NHB). A total of 509 children with NHB (bilirubin > 15 mg %) were compared with the same number of controls (matched for gender, place of residence, and date and place of birth) with respect to in-patient psychiatric care during 1971-1993. A significantly greater number of individuals in the NHB group received in-patient psychiatric care than in the control group (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1-5.5). After exclusion of infants with associated obstetric risk factors, the significantly increased risk for in-patient psychiatric care still remained among the children with NHB (OR, 13.4; 95% CI, 1.6-110.1). NHB could be a factor underlying subsequent development of mental ill-health, but larger samples are needed to obtain a more reliable assessment.