Age at first childbirth and the risk of hypertriglyceridemia among Korean women

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the association of age at first childbirth with the risk of hypertriglyceridemia among Korean women. METHODS: This study used data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study–Cardiovascular Disease Association Study. In total, 16,747 women were included in the cross-sectional analysis, and 6,250 women were included in the longitudinal analysis. The participants were divided based on their age at first childbirth (<20, 20-24, 25-29, and ≥30 years). Hypertriglyceridemia was defined as triglyceride levels of ≥150 mg/dL. RESULTS: The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for prevalent hypertriglyceridemia was 1.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.40) in women whose first childbirth was before 20 years of age, compared to those whose first childbirth was at 25-29 years of age, after adjustment for age, study site, body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes, alcohol consumption, carbohydrate intake, income, marital status, education, parity, usage of oral contraceptives, and hormone replacement status. During a median follow-up of 5.2 years, 1,770 women developed hypertriglyceridemia. Compared with women who gave birth to their first child between 25 years and 29 years of age, those giving birth to their first child before 20 years of age had a higher risk for incident hypertriglyceridemia in later life (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.57). CONCLUSIONS: Giving birth to one’s first child before the age of 20 years was associated with an increased risk of hypertriglyceridemia among Korean women.