Investigators will analyze the relationships between parity or gravidity and measures of lipids in groups of women from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Hispanic HANES) and the Framingham Heart Study. Such relationships may offer insights into the health of an important minority group in the U.S. and may provide clues regarding hormonal mechanisms in lipoprotein metabolism. In the Framingham cohort, the relationships among gravidity, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol will be prospectively studied. Each of these serum lipids will be tested as potential mediators of associations between gravidity and various cardiovascular endpoints. In the Hispanic HANES, the associations among parity, gravidity, and lipid levels will be examined in cross-sectional data on women of a different ethnic background in whom birth rates tend to be high. Secondary analysis of these two datasets will be conducted, carefully considering aspects of the study designs. Bivariate analyses will generate mean lipid levels within parity or gravidity groups. HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol win then be stratified both by parity and other variables (such as age and smoking status) so that interactions can be considered. Multivariate analyses will be used to analyze the effect of parity on lipids and cardiovascular disease events while controlling for a variety of potentially confounding factors (such as body mass index, subscapular/triceps, skinfold ratio, education, income, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, oral contraceptive use, estrogen replacement therapy, menopausal status and type of menopause). Interactions will also be considered in multivariate models.
