Spousal correlations for nine psychiatric disorders are consistent across cultures and persistent over generations.

Trait similarities between spouses are a key factor that shapes the landscape of complex human traits. The driving force behind the spousal correlations can increase the overall prevalence of disorders, influence occurrences of comorbidities and bias estimations of genetic architectures. However, there is a lack of large-scale studies examining cultural differences and generational trends in spousal correlations for psychiatric disorders.

Education as a Modifier of Genetic Influence on Cognitive Ability in Older Adults.

Whether education modifies genetic influences on cognition has not been fully explored, especially in non-European populations. Using the older adult cohort from the Taiwan Biobank of East Asian populations, this study aimed to investigate the modifying effect of education on the association of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele and polygenic scores (PGS) for Alzheimer's disease (PGS), cognitive performance (PGS), education attainment (PGS), and schizophrenia (PGS) with cognitive ability. Participants aged > 60 years were included in this cohort study.

Relationship between psychosomatic diagnoses and various autonomic indicators: which diagnoses have stronger associations?

Background: Various diagnoses in psychosomatic medicine have been found to exhibit features of autonomic activity, primarily characterized by low parasympathetic activity. However, because depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms often coexist, it remains to be clarified whether certain diagnoses are more strongly associated with autonomic activity than others. We also aim to explore whether the relationship between diagnosis and autonomic activity is through a top-down (from brain to autonomic nervous system) mechanism.

Clinical correlates of errors in machine-learning diagnostic model of autism spectrum disorder: Impact of sample cohorts.

Machine-learning models can assist in diagnosing autism but have biases. We examines the correlates of misclassifications and how training data affect model generalizability. The Social Responsive Scale data were collected from two cohorts in Taiwan: the clinical cohort comprised 1203 autistic participants and 1182 non-autistic comparisons, and the community cohort consisted of 35 autistic participants and 3297 non-autistic comparisons.

Assessing the Validity of Claims-Based Diagnostic Codes for Psychotic and Affective Disorders and the Influence of the Coding Transition from the ICD-9 to the ICD-10 in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database.

Purpose: No studies have validated psychiatric diseases diagnoses in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). We aimed to assess the interrater reliability of chart-review among psychiatrists, examine the validity of the diagnostic codes for psychotic disorders and affective diseases in the NHIRD against review-based diagnoses, and examine whether the change in the coding system from the ICD-9-CM to the ICD-10-CM affected the validity of the diagnostic codes.

Patients And Methods: The study participants were psychiatric inpatients aged 18 to 65 years who were admitted in 2015 and 2017, respectively, to the main and three branch hospitals of National Taiwan University Hospital.

Retirement, reemployment, and bio-psycho-social health among older adults in Taiwan.

Objectives: This study examined the associations between retirement, reemployment, and health outcomes-covering physical, mental, and social domains-among middle-aged and older adults in Taiwan.

Study Design: Data were drawn from the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan (HALST), with 4015 participants (mean age 68.2 ± 7.

Prenatal and childhood infections and risk of epilepsy.

Infections in utero and early childhood are associated with an increased epilepsy risk; however, confounding by familial predisposition has not been adequately accounted for in previous studies. We aimed to assess the epilepsy risk attributable to infections in utero and early childhood by performing population-based and sibling-comparison analyses to account for residual and unmeasured familial confounding factors. This nationwide birth cohort study included 2,609,289 individuals born 2001-2016 in Taiwan.

Psychopathologies and quality of life in mental and functional disorders associated with persistent somatic symptoms.

Background: Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) are a central diagnostic feature of several mental and functional disorders. However, only several studies simultaneously considered disorders from different systems. The purpose of this study was to explore the coexisting status of these diagnoses and to analyze the relationship between diagnoses and various psychopathologies, as well as quality of life (QOL).

Lifestyle, inflammageing, and poor physical performance in middle-aged and older adults: a prospective cohort study in Taiwan.

Background And Aims: Poor physical performance (PPP) in terms of weakness and slow walking speed is closely associated with frailty during ageing. We aimed to analyse the associations between modifiable lifestyle factors, inflammation markers (hs-CRP, D-dimer, and fibrinogen), and the odds of PPP and state transitions between normal and PPP in older adults.

Methods: A total of 3756 participants ($\ge$ 55 years) in wave 1 (2009-2013) and wave 2 (2014-2019) of the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan (HALST) were analysed.

Pupil and Eye Blink Response Abnormalities During Emotional Conflict Processing in Late-Life Depression.

IntroductionThis study aims to investigate the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system (LC-NE) function in late-life depression (LLD) patients by examining task-evoked pupil dilation in the emotional face-word Stroop task, given the recently established coupling between task-evoked pupil dilation and LC-NE activation.Materials and MethodsUsing video-based eye-tracking and principal component analysis, we explored task-evoked pupil responses and eye blinks in LLD patients (N = 25) and older healthy controls (CTRL) (N = 29) to determine whether there were alterations in pupil responses and eye blinks in LLD compared to CTRL.ResultsLLD patients exhibited significantly different pupil and eye-blink behavior compared to CTRL, with dampened task-evoked pupil dilation associated with emotional congruency and valence processing mediated by the sympathetic system compared to CTRL.

The independent role of fine particulate matter and genetic liability on cognition in older adults.

Background: Genetic susceptibility to mental health and cognitive traits, as well as air pollution, significantly impact cognition. The interplay between polygenic liability and fine particulate matter (PM) remains unclear due to the limited number of large-scale studies in Asia. This study utilized the Taiwan Biobank, a nationwide community-based database, to investigate the main and modified effect of PM on individuals' polygenic susceptibility in cognition.

All-Cause Mortality and Specific Causes of Death in Autism: A Nationwide Analysis.

Background: Western studies have reported a higher mortality risk in autistic individuals. However, the specific causes of death and the roles of age, sex, and concurrent intellectual disability (ID) remain unclear. This study aimed to analyze the causes of death in autism and the moderating effects of age, sex, and concurrent ID.

Integrating DCPR-R and DSM-5 into Clinical Psychosomatic Practice in Taiwan: Their Relationship with Psychopathologies and Quality of Life.

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the benefit of integrating the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research-Revised (DCPR-R) into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Specifically, it examined whether this integration enhances the understanding of psychopathologies and quality of life (QOL) in psychosomatic medicine.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted in Taiwan, 277 patients from psychosomatic clinics and 225 community participants were included.

Associations of paternal age with offspring under-five mortality and perinatal outcomes: a cohort study using claims data in Taiwan.

Background: The causal relationship between advanced paternal age and offspring health is unclear, owing to familial confounders. This study examined the association of paternal age with offspring's under-five mortality and perinatal outcomes, using sibling comparison analyses to account for familial confounding factors.

Methods: A nationwide birth cohort study was designed based on Taiwan's single-payer compulsory National Health Insurance programme.

Incorporating Polygenic Liability and Family History for Predicting Psychiatric Diseases in the Taiwan Biobank.

Background: In this study, we investigated the interplay between molecular measures of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) and conventional measures of family history (FH) on the risk of 4 psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BPD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in community samples of East Asian populations. We examined the individual and joint associations and the relative contributions of PRS and FH and evaluated the potential of combining transdiagnostic PRSs and FHs to improve risk prediction.

Methods: The genotyping of 106,581 unrelated participants from the Taiwan Biobank was linked to the National Health Insurance Research Database to retrieve information on ICD-defined diseases and FH.

Association between early retirement and risk of frailty in later life: A population-based longitudinal study.

Aim: Early retirement is prevalent and can alter daily habits, potentially impacting health. This study aims to explore the association between early retirement and frailty and to examine the modifying effect of sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods: We conducted a population-based matched cohort study that included 1 779 628 early retirees aged 45-64 years and an equal number of employed individuals from Taiwan's National Health Insurance (2010-2021).

Profiling Social Detachment in Older People in Taiwan: A Cluster Analysis.

Objectives: The Social Detachment Questionnaire for the Older Population (SDQO) is a validated tool that assesses various dimensions of social relationships. This study aimed to profile social detachment among older people in Taiwan using the SDQO and explore its use in distinguishing groups with varying levels of social engagement.

Methods: A telephone-based survey was conducted, collecting demographic data and responses to the SDQO and Brief Symptom Rating Scale-5 (BSRS-5).

Familial coaggregation and shared genetic influence between major depressive disorder and gynecological diseases.

The mechanism underlying the co-occurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and gynecological diseases remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the familial co-aggregation and shared genetic loading between MDD and gynecological diseases, namely dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, uterine leiomyomas (UL), and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Overall, 2,121,632 females born 1970-1999 with parental information were enrolled from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD); 25,142 same-sex twins and 951,779 persons with full-sibling(s) were selected.

Assortative mating across nine psychiatric disorders is consistent and persistent over cultures and generations.

Emerging evidence has shown that assortative mating (AM) is a key factor that shapes the landscape of complex human traits. It can increase the overall prevalence of disorders, influence occurrences of comorbidities, and bias estimation of genetic architectures. However, there is lack of large-scale studies to examine the cultural differences and the generational trends of AM for psychiatric disorders.