Abstract
Background Parental mental health conditions have been associated with increased morbidity and use of healthcare services in the offspring. However, existing studies have not examined different severities of mental health conditions. Furthermore, the impact of paternal mental health has been overlooked.We therefore examined the association between two severities of parental mental health conditions and the use of healthcare services for children the first year of life, exploring the impact of both maternal and paternal mental health conditions.Methods This register-based cohort study included all live-born children in Denmark 2000-2016. Information on socioeconomics, diagnoses, drug prescriptions and healthcare contacts was extracted from nationwide public registries. Parents were grouped according to severity, and thus the place of treatment, of the mental health condition. Poisson regression analyses were performed to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of contacts to general practice (GP), out-of-hour medical service, emergency room (ER) and out- and inpatient hospital contacts the first 12 months of life.Results The analyses included 964395 children. Twenty percent of the mothers and twelve percent of the father were identified with mental health condition. Paternal mental health conditions were independent associated with an increased risk of all kinds of infant healthcare contacts (GP IRR 1.05 (CI95% 1.04-1.05) and out-of-hour IRR 1.20 (CI95% 1.18-1.21)); however, the risks were higher for maternal mental health condition (GP IRR 1.17 (CI95% 1.17-1.18) and out-of-hour IRR 1.38 (CI95% 1.37-1.37)). The risks were even higher if both parents were classified with a mental health condition (GP IRR 1.24 (CI95% 1.23-1.25) and out-of-hour contacts IRR 1.48 (CI95% 1.45-1.51)), including minor (GP IRR 1.22 (CI95% 1.22-1.23) and out-of-hour IRR 1.37 (CI95% 1.35-1.39)). The overall pattern was the same for all types of healthcare contacts.Conclusions Both maternal and paternal mental health conditions, including minor mental health conditions, were associated with increased utilization of healthcare services. Focus on both parents as well as the presence of even minor mental health conditions may be warranted in planning of services. What is already known on this subject?Maternal depression or depressive symptoms and/or increase child use of healthcare services. The role of different levels of mental health conditions in the mother as well as mental health conditions of the father are unknown.What this study addsNot only maternal but also paternal mental health conditions, including minor conditions only handled in primary healthcare, increased child use of healthcare services the first year of life. Healthcare utilization was greatest if both parents had a mental health condition.