The association between chronic psychological stress and uterine fibroids risk: A meta-analysis of observational studies

Stress Health. 2019 Dec;35(5):585-594. doi: 10.1002/smi.2895. Epub 2019 Sep 5.

Abstract

The association between chronic psychological stress and uterine fibroids (UFs) risk remains unclear. In this study, a meta-analysis of observational studies was performed to explore the reported association between them. A literature search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science to identify relevant published articles. A random-effect model was used to examine pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Additionally, subgroup analyses and two-stage random-effect dose-response meta-analysis were performed. A total of six articles with seven studies were included in this meta-analysis. For the highest versus lowest category of chronic psychological stress, the pooled OR was 1.24 (95% CI [1.15, 1.34]; p = .000). Through subgroup analyses, we found a positive association between chronic psychological stress and UFs risk especially in non-Hispanic Blacks studies (OR, 1.24, 95% CI [1.14, 1.34], p = .000). When evaluating for a dose-response, we found a weak correlation between chronic psychological stress and UFs risk, especially for the severe (OR, 1.17, 95% CI [1.07, 1.29]) and very severe (OR, 1.23, 95% CI [1.07, 1.41]) categories. Our meta-analysis shows a statistically significant association between chronic psychological stress and UFs risk particularly for non-Hispanic Blacks. Interventions aiming to reduce chronic psychological stress may be useful to decrease the prevalence of UFs.

Keywords: chronic psychological stress; meta-analysis; uterine fibroids; uterine leiomyomata.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Black People
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Leiomyoma / ethnology
  • Leiomyoma / psychology*
  • Life Change Events
  • Observational Studies as Topic
  • Risk Factors
  • Stress, Psychological / complications*
  • Uterine Neoplasms / ethnology
  • Uterine Neoplasms / psychology*