Adverse childhood experiences and prevalence of type II diabetes in a nationwide cohort of Icelandic women

• Main Author: Elísabet Unnur Gísladóttir 1997-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Sálfræði; Sálræn áföll; Konur; Sykursýki; Kvenna; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/41530

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been indicated in the development of psychiatric disorders and somatic diseases in adulthood. The development of diabetes has been linked to ACEs but research remains somewhat limited. The aim of this study is to explore the association between accumulative ACEs and diagnosis of type II diabetes in adult women. Materials and methods: The nationwide-representative Stress-And-Gene-Analysis (SAGA) Cohort included 26,616 Icelandic women, ages 18-69 years, that responded to 13 distinct questions on ACEs (assessed with the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire) and self-reported a diagnosis of type II diabetes. We used logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) as a measure of the association between the number of ACEs and self-reported type II diabetes, controlling for age, body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic factors. Results: A total of 762 (2.9%) women reported having been diagnosed with type II diabetes, a similar prevalence to that previously measured among women in Iceland by the Icelandic Heart Association. The data suggests a dose-response relationship between the number of ACEs and odds of type II diabetes; every ACE experienced corresponded to an 8% (95% CI: 5-12%) increase in the odds of type II diabetes. Compared to women with no ACEs, women reporting five or more ACEs were at 68% (CI: 28-120%) increased odds of type II diabetes, when adjusting for all covariates. Conclusion: We observed a dose-response association between ACEs and type II diabetes among women which was only to a limited extent explained by age, BMI and socioeconomic status. Future studies are needed to address the underlying mechanisms. Inngangur: Rannsóknir benda til þess að áföll í æsku (e. adverse childhood experiences) séu áhrifaþáttur í þróun líkamlegra og geðrænna veikinda. Sykursýki er einn þeirra sjúkdóma sem hefur verið tengdur við áföll í æsku en rannsóknir eru enn nokkuð takmarkaðar. Markmið þessa verkefnis er að kanna tengsl upsafnaðra ...