Association between Reproductive Characteristics and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

Fertility is one of the major events in women's lives which could influence on their health status. However, the impact of fertility behaviors on the health status of women has been rarely studied. This paper, examine the relation of coronary artery diseases with some reproductive characteristics such as the number of pregnancies, women experience of childbearing at high risk age groups of under 18 and  over 35. Data for the study collected through a face-to-face survey interview with 217 women come to two heart diseases treatment center in Yazd city for the diagnostic test of coronary angiography. Data analyzed using bivariate and multivariate analysis. Findings showed that the number of women’s pregnancies and fertility experience in high risk age of under 18 and over 35 are positively related to coronary artery diseases. In other words, after controlling for the impact of metabolic risk factors and age variables in multivariate models, direct relationship between reproductive characteristics of women and coronary artery disease remain significant in most cases. Our results also indicate that having experience of at least one childbearing experience at high risk reproductive age, increases the risk of coronary artery disease.