Longer leukocyte telomere length increases the odds of premature rupture of membranes: a cross-sectional study based on UK Biobank

This study aimed to explore the association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and premature rupture of membranes (PROM). This cross-sectional study included a total of 170,841 participants from the UK Biobank. Restricted cubic spline model (RCS) and logistic regression were used to evaluate the relationship between LTL and PROM. Subgroup analysis and interaction tests were conducted to test the stability of the results. RCS model showed a notable non-linear association between LTL and PROM. The logistic regression model further revealed that longer LTL was associated with an increased odds of developing PROM after fully adjusting for confounding factors. For every 1 unit increase in the original LTL, the odds of PROM significantly increases by 1.97 times (OR = 1.97, 95% CI:1.30-2.95). Compared with the Q1 of LTL, the PROM odds of Q3 and Q4 increased by 33% (OR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.11-1.59) and 31% (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.09-1.56). Finally, subgroup analysis found that age and education level play an important role in regulating the relationship between LTL and the odds of PROM. The research results indicate a non-linear relationship between LTL and PROM, and longer LTL is associated with higher PROM odds, which is influenced by age and education level.