Parity and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

 

The relationship between parity and diabetes has been discussed for many years and the subject is still controversial.  Some investigations show that parity, particularly five or more births, might be associated with higher incidence of diabetes, whereas others found no association.

We performed a population-based cohort study including all Danish women who gave birth during year 1982-1983 (n = 100238). The cohort was identified in the National Birth Register and information on maternal age and parity was retracted from the register. The women were followed in the National Patient Register through year 2004 and information on type, date, interval from birth to diagnosis of diabetes was recorded.

A total of 1717 cases were diagnosed with diabetes in the follow-up period of 23 yearswhich ich correspond to 1,7%. The women in the study were between 13 and 50 years old at the time of delivery. We grouped the study population in age groups: the young (age 13-22 years) comprising 19% of the total births, middle group (23-29 years) comprising 55% of the births and old group (30-50 years) comprising 26% of the births. In all groups there was a significant effect of parity on the development of diabetes. In the middle group we found a 10 fold increased risk of diabetes in the group with 5 or more deliveries. In the old group there was a 4 fold increased risk of diabetes in the group with 5 or more deliveries. In the young group the effect of parity 4 or 5+ is very questionable, because of the very few women in these groups. Still a significant effect of parity in the same order of magnitude as in the middle group was found

In conclusion these data shows that parity is associated with an increased risk of diabetes.