Associations Between Uterine Fibroids and Lifestyles Including Diet, Physical Activity and Stress: a Case-control Study in China

This study was conducted to investigate the associations between uterine fibroids and lifestyles including diet, physical activity and stress from October 2009 to April 2011 in China. This case-control study composed of 73 women with uterine fibroids and 210 women without fibroids. Uterine fibroid cases were confirmed by ultrasound diagnosis or hysterectomy surgery. Information on women's dietary habits, physical activity and stress status were collected with a validated self-administered questionnaire. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) after controlling for age, gravidity and parity. We found that vegetable and fruit intakes and occupational intensity played positive effects on uterine fibroids. For premenopausal women, vegetable and fruit intakes (OR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3, 0.9) and occupational intensity (OR = 0.2; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.6) significantly decreased the risk of fibroids; conversely, BMI significantly increased the risk (OR = 1.2; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.4). However, the associations for postmenopausal women were not significant. Our findings suggested protective roles for vegetable and fruit intakes and occupational intensity on uterine fibroids, and supported the hypothesis that high BMI only increased the risk of uterine fibroids in premenopausal women.