Prof. GAO Ying's team from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health (SINH), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Hainan Medical University, and the Meinian Institute of Public Health at Peking University Health Science Center, has estimated the prevalence of hysterectomy of Chinese women, and its association with metabolic disorders.

Hysterectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures (second only to cesarean section) for women patients worldwide. The prevalence of hysterectomy has been reported to vary widely among different populations, ranging from 4% to 41%. Understanding the epidemiological characteristics of hysterectomy might help to obtain precise estimates of uterine cancer incidence rates.

In addition, identifying the risk factors for hysterectomy in women of childbearing age may help preserve the uterus and subsequently improve the continuing decline in fertility worldwide. However, population-based studies in Chinese women remain scarce. Furthermore, hysterectomy for women of childbearing age were understudied.

Prof. GAO Ying's team and collaborators conducted a multicenter study involving 9,013,462 female participants, of whom 210,793 (2.34%) had a history of hysterectomy. The age-standardized prevalence of hysterectomy in urban China was 2.36% (provincial range: 0.925%–3.26%), with the highest prevalence among women aged 55–59 (7.61%).

Hysterectomy was positively correlated with metabolic disorders, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, and metabolic syndrome. Among women aged 18–34, the association between hysterectomy and diabetes and hypertension was as high as 6.09 (95% CI: 4.48–8.26) and 6.08 (95% CI: 5.18–7.14), respectively, much stronger than other age groups. This highlights the importance of maintaining metabolic health for women of childbearing age to maintain their reproductive health.

In summary, based on the largest population dataset to date on this topic, the study estimated the prevalence of hysterectomy of Chinese women, and provided strong evidence of a significant association between hysterectomy and metabolic disorders. The findings offer crucial evidence-based insights for clinical decision-making.

Entitled "Prevalence of hysterectomy in urban China and associations between metabolic disorders and hysterectomy: a multicenter population-based study involving over 9 million women", this study was published online in BMC Medicine on December 30, 2025.

This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, the Strategic Priority Research Program of CAS, and other grants.

Crude prevalence of hysterectomy by age group and age-standardized prevalence across geographical regions, 2017-2018. (Image by Prof. GAO Ying's team)

Paper link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12916-025-04595-w

Scientific Contact:
Prof. GAO Ying
Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Email: yinggao@sinh.ac.cn 

Media Contact:
WANG Jin
Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Email: wangjin01@sinh.ac.cn