Overcrowded housing during adolescence and future risk of premature mortality: a 28-year follow-up of 556,191 adolescents from Switzerland

BACKGROUND: Few large-scale studies have examined the health impacts of overcrowded housing in European countries. The aim of this study was to assess whether household crowding during adolescence increases the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Switzerland. METHODS: Study participants were 556,191 adolescents aged 10–19 years at the 1990 census from the Swiss National Cohort. Household crowding at baseline was measured as the ratio between the number of persons living in the household and the number of available rooms, categorized as none (ratio ≤ 1), moderate (1 < ratio ≤ 1.5), and severe (ratio > 1.5). Participants were linked to administrative mortality records through 2018 and followed for premature mortality from all causes, cardiometabolic disease and self-harm or substance use. Cumulative risk differences between ages 10 and 45 were standardized by parental occupation, residential area, permit status and household type. FINDINGS: Of the sample, 19% lived in moderately and 5% lived in severely crowded households. During an average follow-up of 23 years, 9766 participants died. Cumulative risk of death from all causes was 2359 (95% compatibility intervals: 2296–2415) per 100,000 persons when living in non-crowded households. Living in moderately crowded households led to 99 additional deaths (−63 to 256) per 100,000 persons and living in severely crowded households 258 additional deaths (−37 to 607) per 100,000 persons. The effect of crowding on mortality from cardiometabolic diseases, self-harm or substance use was negligible. INTERPRETATION: Excess risk of premature mortality in adolescents living in overcrowded households appears to be small or negligible in Switzerland. FUNDING: University of Fribourg Scholarship Programme for foreign post-doctoral researchers.