Use
of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) does not lead to poorer
mental health in children across adolescence and young adulthood,
according to a large observational study led by researchers at
Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry,
found a slightly higher risk of obsessive-compulsive disorder for those
born after ART but this was explained by parental background factors.
"These findings are overall reassuring with respect to the psychiatric health of adolescents conceived with ART, a group that we are now for the first time able to follow into early adulthood,"
says the study's corresponding author Chen Wang, doctoral student at
the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska
Institutet.
Since 1978, more than 9 million children have been born following the use of assisted reproductive techniques. In-vitro
fertilization (IVF) has so revolutionized the treatment of infertility
that Robert G. Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 2010 for the development. Prior studies have however linked
the use of ART to some undesired birth outcomes such as an increased
risk of birth defects, preterm birth, and low birth weight.
The
knowledge about the long-term health of children conceived with ART is
still limited. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have conducted
the first major study on mental health in young adults born in Sweden following ART.
Using
individually linked population-based data, the researchers were able to
follow more than 1.2 million people born in Sweden between 1994 and
2006, including 31,565 participants conceived with ART. The participants
were between 12 and 25 years of age when the study concluded. The
researchers also had access to registry-based information on clinical
diagnoses of mood disorders such as major depression, anxiety,
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or suicidal behavior.
Aside
from the potential effects of the intervention, certain traits and
characteristics that may be more common in couples that undergo ART
could also play a role in the long-term health of their children. In the
study, the researchers therefore took particular care to separate the
role of the treatment from the influence of a wide range of parental
background factors, such as infertility, maternal and paternal age,
education, and mental health history.
"In
the end, we did not find that use of ART had any adverse influence on
children's psychiatric health as they go through adolescence.
Individuals conceived with ART had a slightly elevated risk of OCD
compared with the general population but
this was explained by differences in the background of the parents, as
this excess risk was no longer present after adjustment for various
parental characteristics," says last author Sara Öberg, associate
professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at
Karolinska Institutet.
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