Determinants of age at menopause in Italy: results from a large cross-sectional study (original) (raw)
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Factors associated with onset of menopause in women aged 45–49
Maturitas, 1994
This paper uses a cross-sectional sample of women aged 45-49 to investigate factors that might be associated with an early menopause. Using logistic regression analysis we found that age, smoking, age of maternal menopause, parity, social class, meat and alcohol consumption were all independently associated with an early natural menopause. Meat, alcohol consumption and maternal menopausal age do not seem to have been previously noted as associated with the timing of the menopause. These associations would merit further study, preferably using prospective data. However, this study in line with much previous work shows that smoking is associated with a reduction in menopausal age.
Menopausal Review
Introduction: Menopause is the last physiological menstrual period and is a complex process involving the following: endocrine, genitourinary, cardiovascular, and locomotor system, and it leads to vasomotor symptoms and psychological complaints. This study aims to investigate the influence of smoking and body mass index (BMI) as risk factors on the age of onset of menopause in women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Material and methods: This study included 460 women in natural menopause. The study was conducted in 2 phases: interview and measurement of BMI. Each patient underwent an interview based on the questionnaire, following the verbal consent of the patient, who had previously been explained the nature of the research. Results: The age at which menopause occurs increases with the BMI increase, and it can be described by the regression equation: age = 0.096 × BMI + 45.7, which has statistical significance. The mean age of menopause occurrence in current smokers was lower (47.5 ±0.4 years) than in non-smokers (48.8 ±0.2 years) (p = 0.010). Conclusions: Our study confirmed the statistically significant correlation between smoking, BMI, and age of onset of menopause.
Factors associated with onset of menopause ln women aged 45-49
This paper uses a cross-sectional sample of women aged 45-49 to investigate factors that might be associated with an early menopause. Using logistic regression analysis we found that age, smoking, age of maternal menopause, parity, social class, meat and alcohol consumption were all independently associated with an early natural menopause. Meat, alcohol consumption and maternal menopausal age do not seem to have been previously noted as associated with the timing of the menopause. These associations would merit further study, preferably using prospective data. However, this study in line with much previous work shows that smoking is associated with a reduction in menopausal age.
BMC Public Health, 2007
Background: Early onset of menopause is a risk factor for several health problems. The objective was primarily to investigate the association between early menopause and current, past active and passive smoking. A second aim was to investigate the association between coffee and alcohol consumption and early menopause. Methods: The present population-based cross-sectional study included a sub-sample of 2123 postmenopausal women born in 1940-41 who participated in the Oslo Health Study. Early menopause was defined as menopause occurring at an age of less than 45 years. We applied logistic regression analyses (crude and adjusted odds ratio (OR)) to examine the association between early menopause and selected lifestyle factors. Results: Current smoking was significantly associated with early menopause (adj. OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.11-2.28). Stopping smoking more than 10 years before menopause considerably reduced the risk of early menopause (adj. OR, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.05-0.33). Total exposure to smoking (the product of number of cigarettes per day and time as a smoker) was positively related to early menopause and, at the highest doses, nearly doubled the odds (adj. OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.12-3.30). These data suggest a possible dose-response relationship between total exposure to smoking and early menopause, but no dose-response relationship was detected for the other variables examined. We found no significant association of coffee or alcohol consumption with early menopause. Of the lifestyle factors tested, high educational level (adj. OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.34-0.72) and high social participation (adj. OR, 0.60, 95% CI, 0.39-0.98) were negatively associated with early menopause. Conclusion: This cross-sectional study shows an association between current smoking and early menopause. The data also suggest that the earlier a woman stops smoking the more protected she is from early menopause. Early menopause was not significantly associated with passive smoking, or alcohol or coffee consumption.
Cigarette smoking and age of menopause: A large prospective study
Maturitas, 2012
Objectives: One of the possible consequences of tobacco consumption is that it contributes to an earlier age of menopause, though the causal relationship is yet to be confirmed. This study aimed to examine the prospective association between smoking and earlier age of menopause in a cohort of middle age Australian women after adjustment for a number of potential confounders. Study design: 21-Year follow-up of a cohort prospective study, Brisbane, Australia. Main outcome measures: Age of menopause measured at the 21-year follow-up. Smoking and menopausal status were assessed by self-report. Other covariates were measured prospectively in the previous followups.
Age at natural menopause in Spain and the United States: Results from the DAMES project
American Journal of Human Biology, 2005
Our research was undertaken to determine the median age of natural menopause and correlates of the timing of menopause in Spain and the United States (U.S.). A populationbased sample of 300 women from Madrid, Spain and a random sample of 293 women from Fallon Community Health plan (FCHP), a health maintenance organization (HMO) in central Massachusetts, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Logit analysis and logistic regression were used to estimate the median age at menopause and identify factors associated with it. The median age of natural menopause in Spain is estimated at 51.7 years, and in the U.S., it is 52.6 years. In Spain, women with any children (OR ¼ 0.58, 95% CI: 0.25, 1.36) and a lower body mass index (BMI) (OR ¼ 0.45, 95% CI: 0.27, 0.78) had later ages at menopause while current smokers (OR ¼ 5.51, 95% CI: 1.82, 16.7) had earlier ages of menopause in a multivariate model. A multiplicative interaction between smoking status and parity was identified, and an interaction term included in the multivariate model (OR ¼ 0.58, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.94). In the U.S., household income, marital status, and education level were statistically associated with age at natural menopause in bivariate models. These factors were no longer statistically significant after adjustments in a multivariate model. Oral contraceptive use, cycle length, and cycle regularity were not statistically associated with the age of menopause in either country. The ages of natural menopause in Spain and the U.S. are comparable to other industrialized nations. The factors associated with the timing of natural menopause, in particular smoking and BMI, are consistent with those identified in previous studies. Am.
Current Smoking at Menopause Rather Than Duration Determines the Onset of Natural Menopause
Epidemiology, 2004
Smoking has frequently been associated with early menopause. However, studies of this association have been inconclusive with regard to duration and intensity of smoking. A major problem in analyzing the effect of smoking duration on menopausal age is that both exposure and outcome are age-dependent. Methods: We calculated age-specific rates for categories of smoking duration and subsequently computed the rate ratios for occurrence of menopause. We were thus able to model the effect of smoking duration on 2 time scales without assumptions of linearity. We used data from a Dutch population-based cohort comprising 5544 women age 49 -70 years who had experienced natural menopause. Results: The rate ratio (RR) for occurrence of menopause was increased in women who smoked in the year of menopause (RR ϭ 1.41; 95% confidence interval ϭ 1.32-1.50). The rate ratio of former smokers was similar to women who never smoked (0.95; 0.89 -1.02). Prolonged exposure of smoking did not materially affect the risk of menopause, although the daily number of cigarettes currently smoked could increase the risk. Conclusion: Perimenopausal smoking is apparently more important than smoking history in explaining an earlier age of onset of menopause among women who smoke.
The age at menopause and associated factors at the health center area in Ankara, Turkey
Maturitas, 2004
Objectives: This study is performed in one health center area in Ankara, Turkey on a women population of 50-65 years in order to demonstrate menopausal status of women, age at menopause and factors related with the age at menopause. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which has been performed on a women population of 50-65 years. The local population was 17,153 in this area by 2001. All of the household determining forms are screened in order to detect the all of the women who were in 50-65 years group, then name and addresses of the these women's are listed. There were 1089 women aged 50-65 years who were constituting 7% of the population. After choosing the first name randomly from the list of the women, 1/3 systematic sampling method was used and, the number of the women in the sampling was 363 (95% C.I., ±5% S.E.). The response rate among those eligible women who were contactable during the study was 99% (360/363). Data were collected by interviews through questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of a series of questions concerning age at menopause, socioeconomic status, age at menarche, age at first pregnancy, regularity of menstrual cycles, parity, duration of breast feeding, use of OCs, BMI, smoking habit, age at menopause of the mother and the sister. Chi-square and t-test methods were used for statistical analyses. Results: 4.2% of the women were in premenopause, 13.3% were in perimenopause, 72.8% were in natural menopause and 9.7% were in surgical menopause. Average age at natural menopause was 47 ± 4.2 years. Education, age at menarche, smoking, age at menopause of the mother and the sister were found to be related with the age at menopause. Conclusions: Ninety-six percent of the women over age of 50 years, are at menopause or perimenopause. The results of this study suggest that, for factors of genetic and age at menarche, there are not many possibilities for the lifestyle changes that would modify age at menopause with the subsequent reduction in risk for chronic diseases, but daughters or sisters of women with an early menopause and women who smoked or less educated could be counselled with respect to family timing.