Death of siblings in childhood and subsequent mortality: prospective observational study

Excerpt

In an influential case–control study published in 1964 Geoffrey Rose [1] reported that there had been a higher rate of mortality in the first year of life for siblings of coronary heart disease (CHD) cases than for controls. This finding has subsequently been frequently cited in support of the hypothesis that early life factors, influence later CHD risk [2‐6]. A small case control study found elevated risk of both myocardial infarction and stroke if there had been infant or perinatal death in the case of one or more siblings; however these elevated risks were very imprecisely estimated [7]. This finding has apparently not been followed up in larger, prospective, studies with data on potential confounding factors. We have therefore examined this issue among mothers of the 1958 birth cohort, for whom these data were recorded in 1958. …