Association between history of abortion and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and elderly Chinese women

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies have suggested that abortion may cause long term health consequences such as cardiovascular disease. Until recently, studies focusing on the association between history of abortion and metabolic diseases were limited. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the association between history of abortion and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in middle-aged and elderly Chinese women. A cross-sectional survey was performed in 6302 women (age≥40 years) in Shanghai. Standardized questionnaire was used to obtain the information about reproductive histories. Overall, we observed a positive association between history of induced abortion and the prevalence of MetS, independent of potential confounding factors. A multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analysis revealed that compared to those without a history of induced abortion, women with a history of induced abortion remained at 1.25 times more likely to have MetS (OR=1.25, 95% CI=1.06–1.47, P<0.05), and the association was number-dependent. However, no significant association between history of spontaneous abortion and the prevalence of MetS was observed. Compared to those without a history of spontaneous abortion, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratio associated with a history of spontaneous abortion for MetS was 0.88 (95% CI=0.65–1.19, P >0.05).

Keywords

induced abortion / spontaneous abortion / metabolic syndrome

References

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Acknowledgements

The present study would not have been possible without the participation of the subjects. This study was supported by the grants from the Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Ministry of Health (1994DP131044), the Sector Funds of Ministry of Health (201002002), the National Key New Drug Creation and Manufacturing Program of Ministry of Science and Technology (2012ZX09303006-001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81222008), and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, 2012AA02A509).

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg