Background The maternal cardiovascular system experiences an enormous challenge during pregnancy. A history of preterm labor suggestive of dysfunctional pregnancy might be associated with the maternal later life chronic cardiovascular disease (CVD). We evaluated the association between preterm labor and the late development of maternal atherosclerotic CVD using the national database of general population.
Methods Data for 5,226 postmenopausal women aged ≥50 years were analyzed from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V, which had conducted from 2010 to 2012.
Results The numbers of preterm labor and CVD (stroke, myocardial infarction, or angina pectoris) were 151 (3.0±0.3%) and 367 (6.6±0.4%), respectively. In a multivariate analysis, CVD was independently associated with age (odds ratio [OR], 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8–2.0), the presence of hypertension (OR, 1.9; 95% CI,1.5–2.3), diabetes (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.8–2.9), chronic kidney disease (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4–2.2) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration (OR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.7–0.9) were independently associated with CVD. A history of preterm labor was not associated with CVD (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 0.6–3.8).
Conclusions There was no significant association between preterm labor and atherosclerotic CVD in general population. A history of preterm labor is not likely to be a risk factor for later CVD in women.