Sexually transmitted infection and teenage pregnancy in adolescents having parents with schizophrenia: a retrospective cohort study of 64,350 participants

The risks of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and teenage pregnancy in the offspring of parents with schizophrenia remain unknown.

From the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, 5,850 individuals born between 1980 and 1999 having any parent with schizophrenia and 58,500 age-, sex-, income- and residence-matched controls without parents with severe mental disorders were enrolled in 1996 or on their birthdate and followed up to the end of 2011. Those who contracted any STI or became pregnant in adolescence during the follow-up period were identified.

Cox regression analyses demonstrated that offspring of parents with schizophrenia (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.21, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.44), especially daughters (HR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.06–1.58), were more likely to contract any STI later in life than the control comparisons. In addition, daughters of parents with schizophrenia had an elevated risk of being pregnant in their adolescence (HR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.29–1.67) compared with those having no parents with severe mental disorders.

The positive relationship between parental schizophrenia and offspring STIs and teenage pregnancy necessitates clinicians and public health officers to closely monitor the sexual health in the offspring of parents with schizophrenia so that optimal and prompt preventive measures can be taken in the at-risk group.