Association between parity and blood pressure in Korean women: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2010-2012

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy considerably alters cardiovascular dynamics, and thereby affects the transition of blood pressure after delivery in women. We aimed to analyze the association between parity and blood pressure in Korean adult women. Methods: We included 8,890 women who participated in Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2010 and 2012. We divided the population according to the menopause status and analyzed the association between parity and blood pressure by using multiple regression analysis, and on hypertension, by using logistic regression analysis. Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly associated with parity in premenopausal women (β=-0.091 [P<0.001] and β=-0.069 [P<0.001], respectively). In the analysis that excluded women receiving antihypertensive medication, the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of postmenopausal women were significantly associated with parity (β=-0.059 [P=0.022] and β=-0.054 [P=0.044], respectively). Parity was found to prevent hypertension after adjustment for confounders in postmenopausal women (odds ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.310-0.985). Conclusion: We found that parity prevented hypertension in Korean women.