Hypertension risk in Dutch women with symptomatic uterine fibroids

Female-specific risk factors for cardiovascular disease are understudied. We assessed whether women with uterine fibroids have a greater hypertension risk, independent of the shared risk factors for both conditions.

Blood pressure was measured in women scheduled for fibroid surgery compared to women scheduled for nonfibroid gynecological surgery and women randomly sampled from the general population. We used multivariable binary logistic regression to assess whether hypertension was more common with surgically treated fibroids, independent of age, body mass index, and African ancestry.

We included 1,342 women (542 of African ancestry), of which 272 scheduled for fibroid surgery, 385 controls scheduled for nonfibroid gynecological surgery, and 685 random population controls, with a mean age (SD) of, respectively, 43.4 (6.6), 41.3 (10.2), and 45.1 (6.6) years; and a mean body mass index (SD) of, respectively, 27.4 (5.3), 25.7 (5.7), and 28.2 (5.6) kg/m(2). Hypertension was found more frequently with surgically treated fibroids, with an occurrence of 41.9% in women with fibroids vs. 27.5% in surgical controls, and 28.3% in population controls (P < 0.001 for fibroids vs. controls). The association with hypertension was independent of age, body mass index, and African ancestry (odds ratio, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-3.4).

Hypertension risk is higher in Dutch women with surgically treated fibroids than in surgery or population controls, independent of age, body mass index, and African ancestry. Our data add to the body of evidence indicating that women with uterine fibroids are eligible for hypertension screening.