• DOI:10.3233/JAD-150444
• Corpus ID: 10980261

Reproductive history and risk of cognitive impairment in elderly women: a cross-sectional study in eastern China.

@article{Li2016ReproductiveHA,
  title={Reproductive history and risk of cognitive impairment in elderly women: a cross-sectional study in eastern China.},
  author={Fu-dong Li and Fan He and Ting-rui Chen and Yuanyuan Xiao and Shangtong Lin and Wei Shen and Xin-yi Wang and Yujia Zhai and Xiaopeng Shang and Junfen Lin},
  journal={Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
  year={2016},
  volume={49 1},
  pages={
          139-47
        }
}

• Fu-dong Li, F. He, +7 authors Junfen Lin
• Published 28 September 2015
• Medicine, Psychology
• Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD

BACKGROUND
Epidemiological studies suggest that proxies of higher lifetime estrogen exposure are associated with better cognitive function in postmenopausal women, but this has not been found consistently.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether reproductive history, an important modifier of estrogen exposure across the lifetime, is associated with risk of cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women.

METHODS
We analyzed the baseline data from Zhejiang Major Public Health Surveillance Program (ZPHS) including 4,796 postmenopausal women. Cognitive impairment was assessed through the application of Mini-Mental State Examination questionnaire. Logistic regression models, controlled for an extensive range of potential confounders, were generated to examine the associations between women's reproductive history and risk of cognitive impairment in their later life.

RESULTS
The length of reproductive period was inversely associated with risk of cognitive impairment (p = 0.001). Odds ratio (OR) of cognitive impairment were 1.316 (95% CI 1.095∼1.582) for women with 5 or more times of full-term pregnancies, compared with those with 1∼4 times of full-term pregnancies. Women without incomplete pregnancy had a significant higher risk of cognitive impairment (OR = 1.194, 95% CI 1.000∼1.429), compared with the reference (1∼2 times of incomplete pregnancies). Oral contraceptive use (OR = 0.489, 95% CI 0.263∼0.910) and intrauterine device (IUD) use (OR = 0.684, 95% CI 0.575∼0.815) were associated with significantly reduced risk of cognitive impairment.

CONCLUSION
Our results indicated that shorter reproductive period, higher number of full-term pregnancies and no incomplete pregnancy history were associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. In contrast, oral contraceptive and IUD use corresponded to reduced risk of cognitive impairment.