Paternal Preconceptional Alcohol Use Disorder With the Offspring's Mortality Risk

Priscilla My Lee; Xin Xu; Jiang B Du; Jiong Li

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2024.02.017

Paternal Preconceptional Alcohol Use Disorder With the Offspring's Mortality Risk

Am J Prev Med. 2024 Feb 29:S0749-3797(24)00071-0. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.02.017. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Priscilla My Lee¹, Xin Xu², Jiang B Du³, Jiong Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Medicine-Department of Clinical Medicine-Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: priscillalee@clin.au.dk.
² Center for Global Health, Department of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Department of Clinical Medicine-Department of Clinical Medicine-Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

PMID: 38430947
DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.02.017

Abstract

Introduction: Paternal preconceptional alcohol use may contribute to early pregnancy loss. However, the link between paternal preconceptional alcohol use disorder and long-term offspring's mortality risk remains unclear. This study examined the association of paternal preconceptional alcohol use disorder and recency of diagnosis with offspring's mortality and further stratified the mortality after the first year of birth by age.

Methods: This is a nationwide cohort study with 1,973,174 Danish births (1980-2012), with follow-up from birth until death; emigration; or December 31, 2016. Paternal conceptional alcohol use disorder was identified from Danish National Patient Register and Prescription Registry, categorizing recency of diagnosis into <1 year, 1 to <4 years, 4 to <8 years, and ≥8 years. Logistic regression estimated the ORs and 95% CIs for offspring mortality risk. All data were analyzed in 2023.

Results: Paternal preconceptional alcohol use disorder was associated with a 28% increased mortality after 1 year of birth (95% CI=1.09, 1.51), 23% increased infant mortality (95% CI=1.07, 1.42), and 23% increased odds of stillbirth (95% CI=1.06, 1.43). Paternal alcohol use disorder diagnosed <1 year before conception was associated with an 85%-111% increased risk of mortality in offspring aged 15-40 years. More recent alcohol use disorder diagnosis (i.e., 1 year before conception) had a higher risks of death from infectious and circulatory diseases in offsprings.

Conclusions: Offspring of fathers with alcohol use disorder before conception had higher mortality risk from birth to early adulthood, especially when alcohol use disorder diagnosis is close to conception. Current awareness regarding paternal preconceptional alcohol dependence use is insufficient. Promoting alcohol dependence avoidance, including educating men on the impact of alcohol on child health during prepregnancy examination, may help reduce or prevent long-term offspring mortality.