By Lucinda Rachel Grummitt, Noah T. Kreski, Stephanie Gyuri Kim, et al., Photo: Unsplash, JAMA Pediatrics, October 4, 2021
Key Points
Question To what degree does childhood adversity contribute to preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in the US?
Findings In this systematic review including 19 meta-analyses with a total of 20 654 832 participants, exposure to childhood adversity accounted for approximately 439 072 deaths annually across various health outcomes, with the largest contributions to deaths related to heart disease (219 470), cancer (82 888), and chronic lower respiratory disease (66 702). More than 1 in 3 suicide attempts were attributable to childhood adversity.
Meaning Results of this systematic review suggest that childhood adversity is a major contributing factor to early mortality; reduction of adversity exposure and early intervention on intermediate pathways that contribute to disease outcomes may promote health and longevity at the population level.
Comments (0)