Adverse Childhood Experiences and Subsequent Chronic Diseases Among Middle-aged or Older Adults in China and Associations With Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics

IMPORTANCE Associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and chronic diseases among middle-aged or older Chinese individuals have not been well documented. In addition, whether demographic and socioeconomic characteristics modify any such associations has been underexplored. OBJECTIVES To examine associations between ACEs and subsequent chronic diseases and to assess whether age, sex, educational level, annual per capita household expenditure level, and childhood economic hardship modify these associations. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This population-based cross-sectional study used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a survey of residents aged 45 years or older in 28 provinces across China; specifically, the study used data from the CHARLS life history survey conducted from June 1 to December 31, 2014, and a CHARLS follow-up health survey conducted from July 1 to September 30, 2015. The study population included 11 972 respondents aged 45 years or older who had data on at least 1 of 14 specified chronic diseases and information on all 12 of the ACE indicators included in this study. Data analysis was performed from December 1 to 30, 2020. EXPOSURES Any of 12 ACEs (physical abuse, emotional neglect, household substance abuse, household mental illness, domestic violence, incarcerated household member, parental separation or divorce, unsafe neighborhood, bullying, parental death, sibling death, and parental disability), measured by indicators on a questionnaire. The number of ACEs per participant was summed and categorized into 1 of 5 cumulative-score groups: 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, chronic lung disease, asthma, liver disease, cancer, digestive disease, kidney disease, arthritis, psychiatric disease, and memory-related disease were defined by self-reported physician diagnoses or in combination with health assessment and medication data. Multimorbidity was defined as the presence of 2 or more of these 14 chronic diseases. Logistic regression models were used to assess associations of the 12 ACEs with the 14 chronic diseases and with multimorbidity. Modification of the associations by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics was assessed by stratified analyses and tests for interaction. RESULTS Of the 11 972 individuals included (mean [SD] age, 59.85 [9.56] years; 6181 [51.6%] were females), 80.9% had been exposed