Abstract
Epidemiological studies have investigated the association between parity and the risk of stroke, but the results have been inconsistent. The objective of this study was to assess the association among middle-aged and older Chinese women. We used data from the Dongfeng-Tongji Cohort Study. In total, 14,277 women were included in the analysis. Participants were classified into four groups according to parity. Stroke cases were self-reported during face-to-face interviews. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between parity and the risk of stroke while controlling for potential confounders. The prevalence of stroke among the study subjects was 2.7% (380 of 14,277). In the fully adjusted model, women who had experienced two, three, or four or more live births had 1.24 times (95% CI, 0.85–1.81), 1.97 times (95% CI, 1.30–2.98) and 1.86 times (95% CI, 1.14–3.03), higher risk of stroke, respectively, compared with women who had experienced one live birth. High parity was associated with an increasing risk of stroke in the present study. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the association and to explore the unclear mechanism underlying the link between parity and stroke risk.
Highlights
Stroke is a global health problem; it is the second most common cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability worldwide[1]
Parity has been reported as a long-term risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD)[6,7]
The incidence of stroke was positively related to parity, at 1.2%, 2.2%, 4.4%, and 5.2% for women who had experienced one, two, three, or four or more live births, respectively
Summary
Stroke is a global health problem; it is the second most common cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability worldwide[1]. In China, stroke is the first cause of death and disability-adjusted life-years lost (DALYs lost) according to the global burden of disease (GBD) 2010 and the WHO’s health statistics and information systems[2,3]. An epidemiological study has shown that stroke has a greater effect on women than on men because women experience more events and are less likely to recover[4]. The mechanisms for these sex-specific differences are unclear, and it has been argued that female reproductive factors may play a role in the development of stroke. Pregnancy induces dramatic alterations in the physiology, metabolism, and lifestyle All of these changes may have a long-term influence on women’s prospective health[5].
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