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Table 3 The association between early-life risk factors and multimorbidity clusters at age 46–48

From: Prevalence and early-life determinants of mid-life multimorbidity: evidence from the 1970 British birth cohort

N = 7951

MH + hypertension

MH + arthritis

MH + diabetes

MH + asthma

Diabetes + hypertension

Relative risk (95%CI)

Father’s social class at birtha

 I – professional (reference)

1.00*

1.00*

1.00

1.00

1.00

 II – managerial and technical

1.27 (0.53, 3.04)

1.19 (0.51, 2.80)

2.69 (0.35, 20.83)

1.67 (0.78, 3.56)

2.04 (0.52, 7.99)

 III – skilled non-manual/manual

2.32 (1.11, 4.87)

1.53 (0.72, 3.26)

4.40 (0.67, 29.13)

1.68 (0.83, 3.40)

3.01 (0.85, 10.61)

 IV – partly-skilled

2.96 (1.36, 6.44)

1.92 (0.85, 4.35)

5.13 (0.56, 30.32)

2.03 (0.97, 4.26)

3.59 (0.97, 13.35)

 V – unskilled

2.92 (1.23, 6.94)

3.41 (1.46, 7.95)

5.92 (0.78, 44.64)

2.04 (0.85, 4.89)

3.60 (0.92, 14.09)

Birthweightb

0.83 (0.65, 1.05)

0.85 (0.64, 1.12)

1.03 (0.66, 1.61)

0.83 (0.65, 1.07)

0.72 (0.49, 1.06)

Cognitive ability (age 10)c

0.85 (0.72, 1.00)

0.75 (0.63, 0.89)*

0.80 (0.61, 1.06)

0.85 (0.72, 1.00)

0.91 (0.73, 1.12)

BMI (age 10)d

1.11 (1.05, 1.18)*

1.03 (0.96, 1.12)

1.16 (1.06, 1.28)*

1.04 (0.98, 1.11)

1.25 (1.16, 1.34)*

Internalising problems (age 16)e

1.21 (1.09, 1.34)*

1.17 (1.03, 1.33)*

1.09 (0.87, 1.38)

1.25 (1.12, 1.39)*

0.97 (0.79, 1.19)

Externalising problems (age 16)f

1.00 (0.90, 1.11)

1.06 (0.95, 1.19)

1.04 (0.87, 1.24)

1.02 (0.91, 1.14)

1.04 (0.89, 1.22)

  1. aAdjusted for gender
  2. bAdjusted for gender, father’s social class at birth, mother ever smoked during pregnancy, mother’s height, mother’s marital status at birth, and mother being a teen at birth
  3. cAdjusted for gender, father’s social class at birth, birthweight, mother ever smoked during pregnancy, mother breastfed, mother’s height, mother’s marital status at birth, mother being a teen at birth, household tenure (age 5–10), parental interest in child’s education (age 10), overcrowding (age 5), length of time absent from school due to illness (age 10), parental divorce (age 0–16), mother’s mental health (age 10), and BMI (age 10)
  4. dAdjusted for gender, father’s social class at birth, birthweight, mother ever smoked during pregnancy, mother breastfed, mother’s height, mother’s marital status at birth, mother being a teen at birth, household tenure (age 5–10), parental interest in child’s education (age 10), overcrowding (age 5), length of time absent from school due to illness (age 10), parental divorce (age 0–16), mother’s mental health (age 10), and cognitive ability (age 10)
  5. eAdjusted for gender, father’s social class at birth, birthweight, mother ever smoked during pregnancy, mother breastfed, mother’s height, mother’s marital status at birth, mother being a teen at birth, household tenure (age 5–10), parental interest in child’s education (age 10), overcrowding (age 5), length of time absent from school due to illness (age 10), parental divorce (age 0–16), mother’s mental health (age 10), cognitive ability (age 10), BMI (age 10), and externalising problems (age 16)
  6. fAdjusted for gender, father’s social class at birth, birthweight, mother ever smoked during pregnancy, mother breastfed, mother’s height, mother’s marital status at birth, mother being a teen at birth, household tenure (age 5–10), parental interest in child’s education (age 10), overcrowding (age 5), length of time absent from school due to illness (age 10), parental divorce (age 0–16), mother’s mental health (age 10) cognitive ability (age 10), BMI (age 10), and internalising problems (age 16)
  7. *Significant at p-value (after the Bonferroni correction) = 0.003 (for father’s SES at birth, it refers to all categories combined)
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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