Pregnancy loss and prevalent cardiometabolic multimorbidity: a two-stage individual participant data analysis of CHARLS, ELSA, and HRS.
4 affiliations
- 1The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Youyi Road, Yuanjiagang, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, China.
- 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The People's Hospital of Yubei District of Chongqing, Chongqing, China.
- 3The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, No. 295 Xichang Road, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
- 4Chongqing Red Cross Hospital (Jiangbei District People's Hospital), No. 1 Jialing Yicun, Guanyinqiao, Jiangbei District, Chongqing, China. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) is associated with substantially higher mortality and reduced life expectancy. Pregnancy loss is common and has been linked to later cardiovascular risk, but multinational evidence using harmonized individual participant data and CMM as the outcome remains limited.Objective
To examine the cross-sectional association between self-reported pregnancy loss and prevalent cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) among middle-aged and older women in three nationally representative ageing cohorts, and to evaluate the consistency of findings across countries.Design
Cross-sectional analysis using the last valid observation for each woman as the individual-level main analysis, with person-wave analyses as sensitivity analyses. The study did not model incident CMM or CMM progression. Country-specific estimates were combined using a two-stage individual participant data approach.Data sources
The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011-2018), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA, 2002-2018), and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 2017/2019 Life History Mail Survey).Participants
Women aged 45 years or older with available pregnancy history and cardiometabolic outcome data (CHARLS: n = 7,514; ELSA: n = 3,773; HRS: n = 1,630; total N = 12,917).Exposure
Self-reported history of pregnancy loss. In CHARLS and HRS, pregnancy loss corresponded to miscarriage or stillbirth; in ELSA, the available variable combined miscarriage, stillbirth, and induced abortion and could not be disaggregated.Main outcome
CMM, defined as the coexistence of at least two of five self-reported physician-diagnosed conditions: hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, heart disease, and stroke.Results
The prevalence of pregnancy loss was 25.2% in CHARLS, 24.9% in ELSA, and 35.3% in HRS; the individual-level prevalence of CMM was 30.1%, 46.6%, and 36.9%, respectively. In the fully adjusted individual-level model (M3), pregnancy loss was associated with higher odds of prevalent CMM in CHARLS (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.20-1.75, p < 0.001), but not in ELSA (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.90-1.29, p = 0.424) or HRS (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 0.71-2.17, p = 0.455). The DerSimonian-Laird random-effects pooled OR was 1.24 (95% CI: 0.99-1.56, p = 0.062; HKSJ 95% CI: 0.82-1.89). In the person-wave M3 sensitivity analysis, the pooled OR was 1.15 (95% CI: 0.98-1.34, p = 0.083; HKSJ 95% CI: 0.77-1.72). In parity-adjusted person-wave analyses restricted to ELSA and HRS, the pooled OR was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.81-1.29, p = 0.849).Conclusions
The individual-level main analysis suggested that the association between pregnancy loss and prevalent CMM was primarily observed in CHARLS, whereas no statistically significant association was observed in ELSA or HRS. The three-country pooled estimate did not reach statistical significance and was attenuated after parity adjustment in ELSA and HRS. Given the cross-sectional design, the heterogeneous exposure definition in ELSA, sample reduction in HRS, and sensitivity of estimates to analytic choices, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory evidence rather than evidence of a temporal or causal association.
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BibTeX
@article{yang2026pregnancy,
title = {{Pregnancy loss and prevalent cardiometabolic multimorbidity: a two-stage individual participant data analysis of CHARLS, ELSA, and HRS.}},
author = {Yang Yang and Kunying Rao and Feng Pan and Chunmei Ren},
journal = {BMC women's health},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12905-026-04767-7},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972542},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pregnancy loss and prevalent cardiometabolic multimorbidity: a two-stage individual participant data analysis of CHARLS, ELSA, and HRS.
AU - Yang Yang
AU - Kunying Rao
AU - Feng Pan
AU - Chunmei Ren
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/05
JO - BMC women's health
DO - 10.1186/s12905-026-04767-7
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42972542
AB - Background Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) is associated with substantially higher mortality and reduced life expectancy. Pregnancy loss is common and has been linked to later cardiovascular risk, but multinational evidence using harmonized individual participant data and CMM as the outcome remains limited.Objective To examine the cross-sectional association between self-reported pregnancy loss and prevalent cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) among middle-aged and older women in three nationally representative ageing cohorts, and to evaluate the consistency of findings across countries.Design Cross-sectional analysis using the last valid observation for each woman as the individual-level main analysis, with person-wave analyses as sensitivity analyses. The study did not model incident CMM or CMM progression. Country-specific estimates were combined using a two-stage individual participant data approach.Data sources The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011-2018), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA, 2002-2018), and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 2017/2019 Life History Mail Survey).Participants Women aged 45 years or older with available pregnancy history and cardiometabolic outcome data (CHARLS: n = 7,514; ELSA: n = 3,773; HRS: n = 1,630; total N = 12,917).Exposure Self-reported history of pregnancy loss. In CHARLS and HRS, pregnancy loss corresponded to miscarriage or stillbirth; in ELSA, the available variable combined miscarriage, stillbirth, and induced abortion and could not be disaggregated.Main outcome CMM, defined as the coexistence of at least two of five self-reported physician-diagnosed conditions: hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, heart disease, and stroke.Results The prevalence of pregnancy loss was 25.2% in CHARLS, 24.9% in ELSA, and 35.3% in HRS; the individual-level prevalence of CMM was 30.1%, 46.6%, and 36.9%, respectively. In the fully adjusted individual-level model (M3), pregnancy loss was associated with higher odds of prevalent CMM in CHARLS (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.20-1.75, p < 0.001), but not in ELSA (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.90-1.29, p = 0.424) or HRS (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 0.71-2.17, p = 0.455). The DerSimonian-Laird random-effects pooled OR was 1.24 (95% CI: 0.99-1.56, p = 0.062; HKSJ 95% CI: 0.82-1.89). In the person-wave M3 sensitivity analysis, the pooled OR was 1.15 (95% CI: 0.98-1.34, p = 0.083; HKSJ 95% CI: 0.77-1.72). In parity-adjusted person-wave analyses restricted to ELSA and HRS, the pooled OR was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.81-1.29, p = 0.849).Conclusions The individual-level main analysis suggested that the association between pregnancy loss and prevalent CMM was primarily observed in CHARLS, whereas no statistically significant association was observed in ELSA or HRS. The three-country pooled estimate did not reach statistical significance and was attenuated after parity adjustment in ELSA and HRS. Given the cross-sectional design, the heterogeneous exposure definition in ELSA, sample reduction in HRS, and sensitivity of estimates to analytic choices, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory evidence rather than evidence of a temporal or causal association.
SN - 1472-6874
ER -