Preterm birth and the risk of chronic disease multimorbidity in adolescence and early adulthood: A population-based cohort study

Abstract

Our findings indicate that an earlier gestational age at birth is associated with increased risks of chronic disease multimorbidity in the early part of the life course. There are currently no clinical guidelines for follow-up of prematurely born individuals beyond childhood, but these observations suggest that information on gestational age would be a useful characteristic to include in a medical history when assessing the risk of multiple chronic diseases in adolescent and young adult patients.