Association between adverse childhood experiences, adopting a healthy lifestyle in adulthood, and the risks of metabolic disease and multimorbidity: a population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND

The detrimental health effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well documented, yet their impact on metabolic multimorbidity remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the associations of ACEs with adult metabolic disease and multimorbidity, and to assess whether adopting a healthy lifestyle in adulthood could mitigate these risks.

METHODS

We analyzed 70,438 participants without any metabolic disease at enrolment in the UK Biobank. Participants were divided into three groups based on their ACEs and healthy lifestyle scores, respectively. Outcomes were incident metabolic disease (an umbrella term, defined as the presence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, chronic kidney disease, or osteoporosis) and multimorbidity (defined as the coexistence of ≥2 individual metabolic diseases).

RESULTS

Compared with participants with low ACEs, those with high ACEs had significantly higher risks of developing metabolic disease (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.43, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.31-1.56) and multimorbidity (HR: 1.96, 95 %CI: 1.65-2.32). Adopting a favorable lifestyle in adulthood was associated with substantially reduced risks of both metabolic disease (HR: 0.55, 95 %CI: 0.49-0.61) and multimorbidity (HR: 0.33, 95 %CI: 0.27-0.40) compared with an unfavorable lifestyle. Among participants with high ACEs, those who adopted a favorable lifestyle in adulthood had a 45 % lower risk of metabolic disease and a 78 % lower risk of multimorbidity than those with an unfavorable lifestyle.

CONCLUSIONS

ACEs were independently associated with the development of metabolic disease and multimorbidity. Adopting a favorable lifestyle in adulthood may reduce these risks among participants exposed to ACEs.