研究:早產兒患精神疾病機率更高(下)

The study's authors said there was a plausible biological explanation for their finding. The preterm brain is particularly vulnerable to injury, and functional M.R.I. imaging of young adults born very preterm has found disruptions in brain networks similar to those found in psychiatric patients. In addition, genetic factors that would not by themselves lead to illness could be activated by preterm birth.

該研究的研究者們還指出他們的調查結果有合理的生物學解釋。早產兒的大腦易受到傷害，並且他們在那些過早出生的早產兒的功能性核磁共振成像中發現了腦網絡的紊亂，這些紊亂與精神病人的腦紊亂相似。除此之外，那些獨自不會導致疾病的基因可能會被早產激活。

Dr. Peterson agreed that the study offered strong evidence "for a causative relationship rather than simply an association."

彼得森博士也認爲這份研究提供了非常有力的證據來證明"早產與精神疾病之間的關係是因果關係，而不是簡單的聯繫。"

The study, published online last month in Archives of General Psychiatry, used obstetric data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register, which includes information on more than 99 percent of all hospital births in the country since 1973 and contains prospectively collected information on the 95 percent of Swedish women who attend antenatal clinics.

這份研究報告上個月在《普通精神病學文獻》的網上發佈，該研究使用了瑞典出生登記的產科數據。這些數據包括了瑞典1973年以來99%以上醫院出生個體的信息以及95%的做過產前診斷的瑞典產婦的相關信息。

The data on hospitalization came from the National Hospital Discharge Register, which contains records on all hospital diagnoses. The researchers connected the birth records to hospitalization data using the personal identification numbers assigned to all Swedish citizens.

有關住院治療的數據來自於國立醫院出院登記處，包括所有醫院診斷的記錄。研究人員通過每個瑞典公民都有的個人身份識別號碼將出生記錄和住院治療數據連接起來。

The scientists considered two other pregnancy outcomes in addition to preterm birth: birth weight and Apgar score - a general measure of a newborn's health - at five minutes. Being small for gestational age was significantly associated only with hospitalization for drug or alcohol dependency, and Apgar score only with depressive disorder.

科學家們還分析了除早產之外的其它兩種妊娠結果：出生體重和新生兒阿普加評分得分。阿普加評分是評估新生兒健康的一般性測量手段，在出生後五分鐘進行檢測。新生兒體重很輕只與住院治療毒品和酒精的依賴有關聯，而阿普加得分僅僅與抑鬱症有關聯。

The association of hospitalization for psychiatric illness with preterm birth persisted after controlling for Apgar score, poor fetal growth, maternal sociodemographics and maternal psychiatric history.

患精神疾病與早產之間的關聯在人們對阿普加得分，胎兒成長不足，孕婦社會人口生活與孕婦精神病歷史有一定的瞭解情況下一直存在。