Objective: The objective of the current study was to determine whether there was an association between age at first childbirth and glucose tolerance status in postmenopausal women.
Research design and methods: This study was based on the data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare from 2008-2011. Of 37,753 participants, data for 4,965 postmenopausal women were included in the analysis. Subjects were subdivided according to the age at first childbirth as follows: ≤19, 20-24, 25-29, and ≥30 years. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify whether there was an independent association between age at first childbirth and glucose tolerance status by adjusting for potential confounding factors.
Results: The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and diabetes was 21.8% (1.066 of 4.965) and 15.3% (774 of 4,965), respectively. Diabetes prevalence differed significantly between the subgroups and was higher with earlier age at first childbirth: it was 10.9% in subjects aged ≥30 years and 23.8% in subjects aged ≤19 years at first childbirth. After fully adjusting for potential confounding factors, including lifestyle, sociodemographic factors, known diabetes risk factors, and reproductive factors, age at first childbirth ≤19 years was significantly associated with diabetes (odds ratio 1.492 [95% CI 1.005-2.215]). No significant associations were found between age at first childbirth and IFG.
Conclusions: Age at first childbirth influenced diabetes risk in postmenopausal women, and adolescent pregnancy was independently associated with a higher risk of diabetes in postmenopausal women.