Psychosocial Factors and Risk of Uterine Fibroids in Black Women

Black women are 2-3 times more likely to be diagnosed with uterine fibroids than white women, and they tend to have earlier onset and greater symptoms at the time of diagnosis. Established risk factors for fibroids do not fully explain this black-white discrepancy in rates.  Recent evidence in white populations suggests that psychosocial stress can increase the risk of fibroids, possibly by causing dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and biosynthesis of hormones that could affect fibroid risk.  Black women tend to experience higher amounts of psychosocial stress than white women.  We have planned analyses of Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS) data to identify whether various psychosocial stressors–including adverse socioeconomic conditions across the lifespan, abuse victimization across the lifespan, depressive symptoms, and caregiver responsibilities–influence the risk of fibroids.