Mood disorders (MDs) are associated with somatic diseases and tend to aggregate in families. But there are limited studies on the risk of somatic diseases for relatives of patients with MDs.

To assess whether a patient’s mood disorder diagnosis is associated with a family history of somatic disorders.

This cross-sectional family study included 36 patients with MDs (66.7% women; age - 32 [11.2] years) and 68 of their relatives, and 23 healthy individuals (56,5% women; age - 30.5 [6.9] years) and 53 of their relatives. A Pearson’s χ2 test was used to compare the frequencies of family history of somatic disease. Logistic regression models were used to determine the independent association of MDs, after adjusting for the effects of sex, age, with binary characteristics.

Individuals with and without MDs had different frequencies of family history of cardiovascular (66,7% vs. 43,4%; p=0,03) and endocrinological diseases (47,2% vs. 39,1%; p=0,04). There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of family history of gastrointestinal, pulmonary, urogenital and musculoskeletal diseases (p>0,05). Logistic regression revealed that MDs diagnosis in patients was a risk factor for cardiovascular (p=0.03, OR=3.5) and endocrinological disease (p=0.04, OR=3.7) in their relatives.

MDs are associated with the aggregation of somatic diseases in families. Future research is needed to clarify the biological reasons for this association.

No significant relationships.

The importance of prenatal maternal somatic diseases for offspring mood and anxiety disorders may be overlooked or undervalued. We conducted the first systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the risk of offspring mood and anxiety disorders in the context of prenatal maternal somatic diseases.

We screened articles indexed in Embase (including Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed-not-MEDLINE), PsycARTICLES and PsycINFO databases up to August 2021. 21 studies were included. We examined the overall associations between prenatal maternal somatic diseases and offspring mood/anxiety disorders. Analyses were stratified according to maternal somatic diseases and follow-up duration.

We observed an increased risk of mood and anxiety disorders in the context of prenatal maternal somatic diseases [relative risk (RR) = 1.26; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–1.37, RR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.24–1.38]; maternal obesity(RR = 1.92; 95% CI 1.72–2.11), hypertensive disorders (RR = 1.49; 95% CI 1.11–1.86) and infertility (RR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.14–1.39) were risk factors for mood disorders; maternal polycystic ovary syndrome (RR = 1.61; 95% CI 1.42–1.80), severe obesity (RR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.44–1.68) and moderate obesity (RR = 1.36; 95% CI 1.28–1.44) were risk factors for anxiety disorders. Prenatal maternal somatic diseases increased the risk of mood disorders in childhood and adulthood (RR = 1.71; 95% CI 1.34–2.09/RR = 1.19; 95% CI 1.09–1.30), as well as the risk of anxiety disorders in adulthood (RR = 1.33; 95% CI 1.26–1.41).

The results indicate that prenatal maternal somatic diseases are associated with offspring mood and anxiety disorders, and that the associations may be long-lasting.

Somatic diseases have been associated with an increased risk for subsequent schizophrenia; however, it is unknown whether prior somatic diseases negatively affect early treatment outcomes after a first-time schizophrenia diagnosis.

We included all individuals born in Denmark after January 1st, 1977 and first-time diagnosed with schizophrenia between January 1st, 1996 and December 31st, 2015. We identified all life-time somatic hospital contacts and all prescriptions within the year before the first-time schizophrenia diagnosis and followed patients for up to five years regarding risk for schizophrenia (re)-hospitalization (relapse). We performed Cox regression analyses calculating hazard rate ratios (HRR) including 95%-confidence intervals (CI) and adjusted for relevant confounders.

We followed a total of 11,856 patients with a first-time schizophrenia diagnosis (58.7% male, mean age 23.1 (SD = 4.7) years) for 39,033 person-years, whereof 5506 (46.4%) had relapse with schizophrenia re-hospitalization during 5-year of follow-up. Somatic hospital contacts ever before (95.4%; HRR = 1.30; 95%-CI = 1.07–1.59), and specifically during the year before schizophrenia diagnosis (42.5%; HRR = 1.36; 95%-CI = 1.11–1.66) were associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia relapse as were a greater number of prior somatic hospital contacts (p < 0.001). Individuals with up to four different prescriptions for somatic medications showed a trend towards a slightly lower risk of relapse.

Somatic diseases and health seeking patterns might have an impact on the course of schizophrenia, where severe somatic comorbidity, specifically during the year before first-time schizophrenia diagnosis, seem to negatively affect early treatment course, whereas previous somatic medication use may indicate a better compliance and help-seeking behavior.