Korean J Fam Pract.  2020 Jun;10(3):182-191. 10.21215/kjfp.2020.10.3.182.

Association between Reproductive Factors and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Post-Menopausal Women: Cross-Sectional Study from the 2016–2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

• Kang J
• Kim J
• Yu N
• Kang H

• KMID: 2502986
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2020.10.3.182

Abstract

Background
Reproductive factors such as childbirth, gravidity, age of menarche, breastfeeding, and use of oral contraceptives could affect the risk of cardiovascular disease in women. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between reproductive factors and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women in Korea.
Methods
This study included 2,310 women aged ≥45 years who experienced natural menopause and participated in the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2017). Cardiovascular disease was defined as myocardial infarction, angina, and stroke. Coronary heart disease was defined as myocardial infarction and angina. Logistic regression was performed to calculate the odds ratio of cardiovascular disease with respect to each reproductive factor.
Results
Women who breastfed for longer duration (≥24 months) group had a 3-fold higher risk of cardiovascular disease and 4–5-fold higher risk of coronary heart disease than those in the non-breastfeeding group. One-time pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease than gravidity of 6. Early menarche (≤11 years of age) was associated with a high risk of stroke. Women who had a history of using oral contraceptives were at low risk of stroke.
Conclusion
Breastfeeding, low gravidity, and early menarche were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, whereas use of oral contraceptives was associated with reduced risk of stroke. However, some of these results were different from previous reports. Therefore, further studies are needed to identify the relationship between reproductive factors and cardiovascular disease in women.

Keyword

Cardiovascular Diseases; Reproduction; Postmenopause; Cross-Sectional Studies