Death of a parent during childhood and blood pressure in youth: a population-based cohort study of Swedish men

Abstract

Objective Compelling evidence suggests that childhood adversities are associated with an increased risk of hypertension in middle age and old age. The link between childhood adversities and blood pressure in youth is less clear. In this cohort study, we examined the association between death of a parent during childhood and blood pressure in early adulthood in men.Setting Sweden.Participants We studied 48 624 men born in 1949–1951 who participated in the compulsory military conscription in 1969/1970 in Sweden. Information on death of a parent during childhood was obtained from population-based registers. Information on covariates was obtained from the questionnaire and the clinical examination completed at conscription and from population-based registers.Outcome measures Blood pressure was measured at conscription according to standard procedures.Results The multivariable least square means of systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ between bereaved (128.25 (127.04–129.46) and 73.86 (72.89–74.84) mm Hg) and non-bereaved study participants (128.02 (126.86–129.18) and 73.99 (73.06–74.93) mm Hg). Results were similar when considering the cause of the parent’s death, the gender of the deceased parent or the child’s age at loss. Loss of a parent in childhood tended to be associated with an increased hypertension risk (OR and 95% CI: 1.10 (1 to 1.20)); the association was present only in case of natural deaths.Conclusion We found no strong support for the hypothesis that stress following the loss of a parent during childhood is associated with blood pressure or hypertension in youth in men.