Association between number of siblings and cause-specific mortality in the Glasgow alumni cohort study

In the Glasgow University Alumni cohort, students with no siblings experienced higher respiratory disease mortality. This risk diminished after accounting for potential confounders. We did not find strong evidence of an association with all cause, coronary heart disease, stroke or stomach cancer mortality. Number of siblings is a proxy for other exposures and exploring its association with specific disease outcomes can help disentangle some of the pathways relating early life exposures to adult mortality.