QJM Advance Access originally published online on May 25, 2007
QJM 2007 100(7):405-414; doi:10.1093/qjmed/hcm039
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Childhood mental ability in relation to cause-specific accidents in adulthood: the 1970 British Cohort Study
From the 1MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow,2Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh,3Department of Psychology, City University, London, and 4MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK
Address correspondence to Dr G.D. Batty, MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ. email: david-b{at}msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk
Received 15 December 2006 and in revised form 15 February 2007
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Abstract |
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Background: Few data link childhood mental ability (IQ) with risk of accidents, and most published studies have methodological limitations.
Aim: To examine the relationship between scores from a battery of mental ability tests taken in childhood, and self-reported accidents between the ages of 16 and 30 years.
Methods: In the British Cohort study, a sample of 8172 cohort members born in Great Britain in 1970 had complete data for IQ score assessed at 10 years of age and accident data self-reported at age 30 years.
Results: The relationship between childhood IQ score and later risk of accident was complex, differing according to sex and the type of accident under consideration. Women with higher childhood IQ were more likely than those with lower scores to report having had an accident(s) while at work, in a vehicle, engaging in sports, and in unspecified circumstances. Adjustment for markers of socioeconomic position weakened or eliminated some of these relations, but higher childhood IQ remained associated with increased risk of sporting and unspecified accidents. Men with higher childhood IQ scores were less likely than those with lower scores to report accidents at work, but more likely to report accidents at home, playing sports or in unspecified circumstances. After adjustment for socioeconomic circumstances, higher childhood IQ in men remained associated with an increased risk of accidents at home or in unspecified circumstances.
Discussion: The relationship between childhood mental ability and accidents in adulthood is complex. As in other studies, socioeconomic position has an inconsistent relationship with non-fatal accident type.
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  G. D. Batty, C. R. Gale, P. Tynelius, I. J. Deary, and F. Rasmussen IQ in Early Adulthood, Socioeconomic Position, and Unintentional Injury Mortality by Middle Age: A Cohort Study of More Than 1 Million Swedish Men Am. J. Epidemiol., March 1, 2009; 169(5): 606 - 615. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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