Incidence of hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes in women who have delivered after in vitro fertilization: a population-based cohort study from Sweden

Abstract

Objective: To compare the incidence of hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes in women who have delivered after in vitro fertilization (IVF) with those who delivered after natural conception.

Design: A cohort study in Sweden between 1990 and 2008.

Setting: Sweden.

Patient(s): 23,498 women who had given birth to a child after IVF and 116,960 individually matched women.

Intervention(s): None.

Main outcome measure(s): Incidence rates of hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and coronary heart disease in both groups.

Result(s): Inpatient and outpatient diagnoses of hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes were identified by linkage to the Swedish National Patient Register. The mean time of follow-up was 8.6 years in both groups. Multivariable analysis showed that hypertension had a higher incidence in IVF mothers with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-1.41, as compared with mothers from the Medical Birth Register. There was a trend to a higher incidence of stroke (HR 1.27; 95% CI, 0.96-1.68), but the incidence of coronary heart disease and diabetes did not differ.

Conclusion(s): Hypertension was more prevalent in the IVF group, which suggests that these women should be aware of their blood pressure and cardiovascular risk profile.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; hypertension; infertility; in vitro fertilization.