Investigating how parity may cause an increase incidence in Metabolic Syndrome and how this may influence mortality
By Eve McGill, MPH Student
This year for my dissertation I have chosen to study parity and its effects on Metabolic Syndrome (MetS); parity refers to the number of previous pregnancies of >20 weeks. I will be analysing a dataset of women from Guangzhou, a southern province in China. This is a particularly interesting area as Guangzhou has undergone a rapid economic transition in recent decades. Unfortunately however, with this brings the inevitable rise of non-communicable disease; currently one in five adults in China suffers from cardiovascular disease (of which metabolic syndrome is a major driver for).
Previously in Guangzhou, a positive linear trend has been found between the prevalence of MetS and increasingly parous women, with the probability of developing the condition increasing by 16% with each child. Therefore, within this dataset I will be investigating whether parity has any influence on the incidence of MetS in post-menopausal women, and if this will subsequently effect their mortality rate.
With this research I am hoping to identify which biological determinants are most important to women who develop MetS (e.g. low HDL, high blood pressure, etc.), and how much of a risk this may pose to their mortality. In the future, this may elucidate some preventative measures women may take in order to avoid developing cardiovascular disease and perhaps reduce the burden of non-communicable disease.
