Research project Developmental origins of women´s health

In this project we will integrate research on social determinants of health with the life course model of pregnancy and childbirth as a sensitive period in the life courses of parents and offspring.

This research project studies life course determinants of women's health in adult life, at peri-menopause and in old age. Additional analyses will study how social mobility and reproductive history are associated with health in old age, and how these associations vary according to gender.

A large multigenerational study of Swedish men and women (Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational study) is the one of the sources of data for our life course analyses. We plan to employ traditional statistical methods (multivariable linear, logistic, multinomial logistic and Cox regression), family designs and mediation analysis within the project. Additional comparative analyses will use a nation-wide linkage of Swedish data and information from the Mothers and their Children's Health study.

The results of this project will help to (i) identify resilient and vulnerable population groups, (ii) detect sensitive periods during the life course and combinations of different aspects of adversity that generate inequities, and (iii) document heterogeneity of effects across historical and geographical contexts with different types of social, family and health policies. These outputs can lead to better, more effective interventions for both genders and stimulate further research into life course determinants of women's health.

Early life programming of adult ischemic heart disease within and across generations - Early life programming of adult ischemic heart disease within and across generations: The role of the socioeconomic context. Hossin MZ, Falkstedt D, Allebeck P, Mishra G, Koupil I. Soc Sci Med. 2021 Apr;275:113811. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113811

Inequality in hospitalization due to noncommunicable diseases in Sweden - Inequality in hospitalization due to noncommunicable diseases in Sweden: Age-cohort analysis of the Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study. Gondek D, Ploubidis GB, Hossin MZ, Gao M, Bann D, Koupil I. SSM Popul Health. 2021 Jan 21;13:100741. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100741.

Historical Context Changes Pathways of Parental Influence on Reproduction - Historical Context Changes Pathways of Parental Influence on Reproduction: An Empirical Test from 20th-Century Sweden. Moya C, Goodman A, Koupil I, Sear R. Social Sciences 2021; 10: 260. doi.org/10.3390/socsci10070260.

Latent class trajectories of socioeconomic position over four time points and mortality - Latent class trajectories of socioeconomic position over four time points and mortality: the Uppsala Birth Cohort Study. Hossin MZ, Heshmati A, Koupil I, Goodman A, Mishra GD. Eur J Public Health. 2022 Aug 1;32(4):522-527. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckac060.

Early Life Factors and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in a Swedish Birth Cohort - Boldis BV, Grünberger I, C ederström A, Björk J, Nilsson A, Helgertz J. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Nov 20;20(22):7083. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20227083.

Intergenerational transmission of health inequalities - Intergenerational transmission of health inequalities: research agenda for a life course approach to socioeconomic inequalities in health. Houweling TAJ, Grünberger I. . J Epidemiol Community Health. 2024;78(10):650-653. doi: 10.1136/jech-2022-220163.

Comorbidities in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a sibling study - Boldis BV, Grünberger I, Cederström A, Björk J, Nilsson A, Helgertz J. BMC Womens Health. 2024 Apr 5;24(1):221. doi: 10.1186/s12905-024-03028-9.

Intergenerational transmission of health inequalities - Intergenerational transmission of health inequalities: towards a life course approach to socioeconomic inequalities in health - a review. Houweling TAJ, Grünberger I. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2024;78(10):641-649. doi: 10.1136/jech-2022-220162.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Labor Market Attachment: Sequence Analysis - Boldis BV, Grünberger I, Helgertz J, Cederström A. Int J Public Health. 2025 Apr 14;70:1607889. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2025.1607889.

Childhood socioeconomic position and healthy ageing - Childhood socioeconomic position and healthy ageing: results from five harmonised cohort studies in the ATHLOS consortium. Wu YT, Gnanapragasam S, Sanchez-Niubo A, Hossin MZ, Grünberger I, Koskinen S, Cooper R, Prina M. BMJ Public Health. 2025 Feb 26;3(1):e001590. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001590.

Life course determinants of women’s health: from reproductive age to menopause - Gao M. Thesis, Karolinska Institutet, May 2021.

Early life determinants of socioeconomic and health inequalities - Early life determinants of socioeconomic and health inequalities: Life course studies within and across generations. Hossin MZ. Thesis, Karolinska Institutet, October 2021.

Follicular fallacies or where should we begin? - Follicular fallacies or where should we begin? Polycystic ovary syndrome from a life course perspective. Boldis BV. Thesis, Stockholm University, January 2025.

Peer-reviewed and published abstracts (selection)

Trajectories of socio-economic position from birth to adult age and subsequent mortality: the Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational study (Abstract). Koupil I, Heshmati A, Goodman A, Mishra G. J Epidemiol Community Health 2019;73(Suppl 1):A20. pdf, 257.2 kB.

Early life social and health determinants of higher education across three generations. (Abstract). Hossin MZ, Björk, J, Grünberger I. European Journal of Public Health 2023;33(Suppl 2): ii331. ckad160.831 pdf, 41.3 kB.

Sociodemographic disparities in burden of osteoporosis among Swedish adult and elderly population (Abstract). Gao M, Scott K, Falkstedt D, Mishra G, Grünberger I. European Journal of Public Health 2023;33(Suppl 2): ii141-ii142. ckad160.358 pdf, 55.3 kB.

Trajectories of socio-economic position over four time points and mortality: The role of gender. Koupil I, Goodman, Heshmati, Mishra. European Journal of Public Health 2020;30(Suppl 5): v382-v383. ckaa165.1039. pdf, 71.6 kB.

Intergenerational effects of parental early life social and health risk factors on descendants’ adult socioeconomic position (Abstract). Hossin MZ, Björk J, Koupil I. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. 2019;10(S1): S155-S156. doi:10.1017/S2040174419000643. pdf, 11.1 MB.

Cross generational trends in the associations between early life characteristics and adult cardiovascular disease (Abstract). Hossin MZ, Koupil I. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. 2019;10(S1): S50-S51. doi:10.1017/S2040174419000643. pdf, 11.1 MB.

Maternal and Birth Determinants of Endometriosis: A Nationwide Birth Cohort Study (Abstract). Gao M, Scott K, Koupil I. Maternal and Birth Determinants of Endometriosis: A Nationwide Birth Cohort Study (Abstract). Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. 2019;10(S1):S46. doi:10.1017/S2040174419000643.