Characteristics of Women With and Without Breast Augmentation

Objective. —To compare selected characteristics of women with and without augmentation mammaplasty to identify differences between these 2 groups of women.

Design and Study Participants. —White women identified as controls in previously conducted population-based, case-control studies formed the study population for the present cross-sectional analysis (N=3570).

Main Outcome Measure. —Interview information on selected characteristics was compared between women who had received augmentation mammaplasty (n=80) and other women (n=3490) using the prevalence odds ratio (pOR) as the measure of association.

Results. —Women with breast implants were more likely to drink a greater average number of alcoholic drinks per week (for >7 drinks vs 0 drinks: pOR=2.9, 95% confidence interval [Cl]=1.5-5.5), be younger at first pregnancy (for age <20 years vs age 20-29 years: pOR=1.6,95% Cl=1.0-2.7), be younger at first birth (for age <20 years vs age 20-29 years: pOR=11.9, 95% Cl=11.1-3.3), have a history of terminated pregnancies (for ≥1 termination vs 0 terminations: pOR=2.0, 95% Cl=1.2-3.4), have ever used oral contraceptives (pOR=2.2,95% Cl=1.0-4.7), have ever used hair dyes (pOR=4.5, 95% Cl=1.3-15.4), and have had a greater lifetime number of sexual partners (for ≥14 partners vs ≤4 partners: pOR=8.9, 95% Cl=3.1-25.5) than other women. A history of smoking, lactation, high blood pressure, or thyroid disorders, as well as the number of pregnancies, full-term births, or miscarriages, differed little between women with and without implants. Women with breast augmentation were much less likely to be heavy than other women (for >74 kg vs <56 kg: pOR=0.1, 95% Cl=0.03-0.3).

Conclusion. —The differences we found between women with and without breast implants suggest that consideration and evaluation of confounding factors in future studies will help to clarify some of the long-term health consequences of having breast implants.