研究:早產兒患精神疾病機率更高(上)

Premature birth may increase the risk for serious mental illness in adolescence and young adulthood, a recent study reports.

最近一項研究發現，早產可能會增加個體在青春期和成年早期患精神疾病的機率。

Researchers reviewed birth and hospital admissions records of more than 1.3 million Swedes born from 1973 to 1985. They found that compared with those born at term, young adults born very premature - at less than 32 weeks' gestation - were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for schizophrenia or delusional disorders, almost three times as likely for major depression, and more than seven times as likely for bipolar illness.

研究人員查閱了出生於1973年至1985年間的130萬瑞典人出生和醫院入院記錄。他們發現，過早出生的年輕人——不足32周妊娠期就出生，患精神分裂症、妄想症的機率是那些足月出生的人的兩倍，患抑鬱症的機率差不多是足月出生人的三倍，而患躁鬱症的機率則是足月出生人的七倍多。

The lead author, Chiara Nosarti, a senior lecturer in neuroimaging at Kings College London, emphasized that while the increase in relative risk is substantial, the absolute increase in numbers of people with the illnesses is not.

該研究的主要負責人，奇亞拉?諾莎提，是倫敦國王學院神經成像學的高級講師。她強調說，雖然患病相對機率的增加是實質性的，但患病人數的絕對增加卻並不是。

"Despite these findings," she said, "the majority of people born preterm have no psychiatric problems, and the number of people hospitalized with psychiatric disease is very low."

"儘管有着這樣的調查結果，"她說，"但其實大部分早產的人並沒有精神疾病，因精神疾病入院就醫的人也很少。"

Still, she added, "routine screening may help to detect early signs of illness."

但是，她又說道："例行的檢查能夠幫助發現疾病的早期症狀。"

The risk also increased for people born late preterm, or 32 to 36 weeks' gestation, but not as sharply. They were 60 percent more likely to be admitted for schizophrenia or delusional disorders, 34 percent more likely for depressive disorder, and about twice as likely to be hospitalized for bipolar illness.

晚期早產兒，也就是經過32到36周的妊娠期出生的，患病機率也會增加，但不像早期早產兒那麼明顯。他們患精神分裂症或妄想症的機率比足月出生的要高60%，患抑鬱症的機率高34%，而患躁鬱症的機率是那些足月出生的2倍。

The researchers acknowledge that the findings could be affected by factors they could not control for, including unmeasured sociodemographic factors, a family history of preterm delivery, maternal substance abuse or smoking, and bacterial or viral infections.

研究者們也承認調查結果可能會受一些非可控因素的影響，包括不可測量的社會人口因素，早產的家族歷史，產婦藥物濫用，抽菸以及細菌或是病毒性感染。

But experts not involved in the study were impressed with the work. "This is an important, expertly executed epidemiological study," said Catherine Monk, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Columbia who conducts research in perinatal psychiatry and neuroscience. "It provides compelling evidence that our mental health trajectories are initiated early in development."

但那些並沒參與這項研究的專家們則是對這份研究印象深刻。"這是一項重要的、成熟的流行病學的研究。"哥倫比亞大學研究圍產期精神病學和神經科學的臨牀心理學副教授凱瑟琳?蒙克說道，"這項研究提供了大量的證據，證明了我們的心理健康軌跡開始於人最初的發展階段。"

Dr. Monk, too, noted that the study did not mean that being born prematurely inevitably leads to mental illness.

蒙克博士也注意到，這項研究並不意味着過早的出生一定不可避免地會導致精神疾病。

"The risk found is still low in an absolute sense, and finally it, too, can be modified by other factors in the child's development," she said.

"從絕對意義上來講，患病機率仍然是很小，並且，患病機率也能被個體兒童時期發展中的其他因素所改變。"

Dr. Bradley Peterson, director of the Center for Developmental Neuropsychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, said the size of the sample was "stunning" and "allows very strong levels of confidence that the findings are not spurious."

紐約州精神病學研究所發展神經精神病學中心主任布蘭得利?彼得森博士指出該項研究的研究對象的數目"驚人"，"在很大程度上讓人們相信這項研究的調查結果是真實可靠的。"