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Twins and Their Health Cost: Consequences of Multiple Births on Parental Health and Mortality in Denmark and England and Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Cecilia Tomassini ,
Emily Grundy ,
Axel Skytthe  and
Kaare Christensen
Cecilia Tomassini*
Affiliation:
Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom; Department of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy. [email protected]
Emily Grundy
Affiliation:
Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Axel Skytthe
Affiliation:
Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Kaare Christensen
Affiliation:
Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
*
*Address for correspondence: Cecilia Tomassini,Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 49-51 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK.

Abstract

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The rapid increase in twinning rates in developed countries has increased interest in the question as to whether twin mothers have higher mortality and more health problems than mothers of singletons. Here we use a national survey, the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study of England & Wales, and a linkage between the Danish Twin Registry and the Danish population register to examine mortality patterns after age 45 (50 for fathers) for twin parents and the whole population born from 1911 to 1950. For England and Wales, presence of limiting long-term illnesses and self-rated health status was also investigated. Overall similar health and mortality was found for twin parents and the whole population although both life table methods and survival analysis suggested a slight excess mortality among older cohorts of twin mothers in England and Wales.

Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , 01 June 2006 , pp. 444 - 449
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006