Association between paternal schizophrenia and low birthweight: a nationwide population-based study

Using a nationwide population-based dataset, the aim of the present study was to investigate the association between paternal schizophrenia and the risk of low birthweight (LBW). This study linked the 2001 Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Dataset with Taiwan's birth and death certificate registries. In total, 220 465 singleton live births were included. The key dependent variable was whether or not an infant's father was diagnosed with schizophrenia, while the independent variable of interest was whether an infant had LBW. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the relationship between paternal schizophrenia and the risk of LBW, after adjusting for the infant and parents' characteristics. The results show that infants whose fathers had schizophrenia were more likely to have LBW than those whose fathers did not (12.6% vs 8.0%). Infants whose fathers had schizophrenia were found to be 1.58 (95% confidence interval = 1.10-2.52, P < .05) times more likely to have LBW than their counterparts whose fathers did not have schizophrenia, following adjustment for gestational week at birth, parity, paternal age and highest educational level, family monthly incomes, and marital status. We conclude that the offspring whose fathers had a diagnosis of schizophrenia had increased risk of LBW compared with those whose fathers had no schizophrenia. This finding paves the way for further studies and suggests that there may be potential benefit to early intervention to prevent LBW in pregnant women with husbands with schizophrenia.