Poster Session 2
Category: Epidemiology
Poster Session 2
Hagar Brami, MD
Soroka
0, HaDarom, Israel
Gil Gutvirtz, MD, MHA
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka University Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University
Metar, HaDarom, Israel
Tamar Wainstock, PhD (she/her/hers)
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Beer Sheva, HaDarom, Israel
.jpeg.jpg "Eyal Sheiner, MD, PhD photo")
Eyal Sheiner, MD, PhD
Deichmann Lerner Full Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology; Chairman of the Division of OBY&GYN
Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben‑Gurion University of the Negev
beer sheva, HaDarom, Israel
Ruslan Sergienko, MHA
Data Science, Statistical Programming & Analysis, Advanced Data Management
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
ben gurion, HaDarom, Israel
Roy Kessous, MD, PhD
Soroka
BEER SHEVA, HaDarom, Israel
While early postpartum psychiatric disorders are well-recognized, the long-term mental health implications of increasing parity remain unclear. Multiparity, particularly grand multiparity (≥5 births), may contribute to chronic psychological stress through repeated caregiving demands, hormonal fluctuations, and socioeconomic strain. This study aimed to investigate whether increasing parity is linked to a higher risk of psychiatric disorders later in life.
Study Design:
A population-based study of women who gave birth at a single tertiary hospital between 1991-2021 was conducted. We investigated the risk of long-term psychiatric morbidity of mothers related to increasing parity. Only women who had concluded childbearing were included. Data for the incidence of psychiatric morbidity of the mother was extracted from maternal community and hospitalization records. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed to compare the cumulative incidence over time of maternal psychiatric morbidity between the study groups. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to control for possible confounders.
Results:
A total of 54,346 women were included in the study with varying number of births. Overall psychiatric morbidity rate was lowest for primiparous (1 birth) women and increased with increasing parity, although not in a linear manner (Table). In the survival analysis considering the follow up time, increasing parity correlated with higher cumulative incidence of psychiatric morbidity, with the higher risk observed in women with three or more deliveries (Figure). A Cox proportional hazards model, controlling for the use of fertility treatments and ethnicity, confirmed that parity was an independent risk factor for psychiatric morbidity as compared to primiparas (Table).
Conclusion:
In our cohort, increasing parity was independently associated with a higher risk of subsequent psychiatric morbidity in women. These findings underscore the need for mental health surveillance for multiparous women to mitigate potential adverse outcomes.