Parity and increased risk of insulin resistance in postmenopausal women: the 2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the association between parity and insulin resistance in nondiabetic, postmenopausal women.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the 2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey administered by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. A total of 1,243 nondiabetic postmenopausal women were included in this study and subdivided into three groups according to parity (1-2, 3-4, and ≥5 live births). Insulin resistance was measured using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index. The relationship between parity and insulin resistance was investigated using analysis of covariance.

RESULTS: HOMA-IR showed a positive relationship with parity. Mean HOMA-IR (geometric mean and 95% CI) increased according to increasing parity group (1-2, 3-4, and ≥5 live births) after adjustment for age, smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, education, income, and body mass index as follows: 2.1 (2.0-2.2) < 2.2 (2.1-2.3) < 2.5 (2.2-2.8) (P = 0.040 and P for trend = 0.012). In addition, this positive association was more apparent when insulin resistance was accompanied by obesity. The mean parity of the obese and insulin-resistant group was significantly higher than that of the nonobese insulin-sensitive group (3.6 ± 0.1 vs 3.2 ± 0.1, P = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides the first evidence that parity is significantly associated with insulin resistance in nondiabetic postmenopausal women. Further prospective longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the impact of parity on insulin resistance.