Table 4. Relationships of circulating concentrations of sex hormones and SHBG in postmenopausal women with reproductive and other factors. Values are geometric means and 95% confidence intervals adjusted for study, age at blood collection, type of menopause and body mass index and scaled to the overall geometric mean concentration.
| Factor and subset | Oestradiol (pmol l−1) | Calculated free oestradiol (pmol l−1) | Oestrone (pmol l−1) | Androstenedione (nmol l−1) | DHEAS (nmol l−1) | Testosterone (nmol l−1) | Calculated free T (pmol l−1) | SHBG (nmol l−1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at menarche (years) | ||||||||
| Below 12 | 53.6 (51.6–55.6) | 0.77 (0.74–0.81) | 109 (105–114) | 2.26 (2.16–2.37) | 1816 (1722–1914) | 0.82 (0.78–0.86) | 12.3 (11.7–13.0) | 41.5 (40.1–43.0) |
| 12–13 | 51.2 (50.2–52.3) | 0.74 (0.72–0.75) | 105 (102–107) | 2.30 (2.24–2.36) | 1795 (1743–1848) | 0.82 (0.80–0.84) | 12.3 (11.9–12.7) | 41.9 (41.1–42.7) |
| 14 and above | 50.5 (49.3–51.7) | 0.74 (0.72–0.76) | 109 (106–112) | 2.27 (2.20–2.33) | 1790 (1733–1849) | 0.82 (0.80–0.84) | 12.4 (12.0–12.8) | 40.8 (39.9–41.7) |
| P for heterogeneity (trend) | 0.033 (0.015) | 0.114 (0.108) | 0.055 (0.664) | 0.708 (0.839) | 0.903 (0.689) | 0.977 (0.986) | 0.883 (0.684) | 0.195 (0.187) |
| Number of full-term pregnancies | ||||||||
| None | 51.8 (49.8–53.8) | 0.76 (0.72–0.79) | 110 (105–115) | 2.27 (2.16–2.38) | 1702 (1610–1798) | 0.82 (0.78–0.86) | 12.5 (11.8–13.2) | 40.9 (39.4–42.4) |
| One | 53.0 (50.8–55.3) | 0.76 (0.73–0.80) | 108 (103–112) | 2.32 (2.21–2.44) | 1797 (1699–1902) | 0.84 (0.80–0.89) | 12.8 (12.1–13.5) | 40.3 (38.8–41.9) |
| Two | 51.6 (50.2–53.0) | 0.74 (0.72–0.77) | 107 (104–110) | 2.32 (2.25–2.39) | 1864 (1799–1932) | 0.82 (0.79–0.85) | 12.3 (11.9–12.8) | 41.7 (40.7–42.7) |
| Three | 50.6 (49.1–52.2) | 0.74 (0.71–0.76) | 106 (103–110) | 2.28 (2.20–2.36) | 1841 (1766–1921) | 0.83 (0.80–0.86) | 12.5 (12.0–13.1) | 41.4 (40.2–42.6) |
| Four or more | 50.4 (48.9–52.1) | 0.73 (0.70–0.75) | 104 (100–108) | 2.22 (2.13–2.30) | 1704 (1627–1784) | 0.79 (0.76–0.83) | 11.8 (11.3–12.4) | 42.1 (40.8–43.4) |
| P for heterogeneity (trend) | 0.361 (0.092) | 0.465 (0.083) | 0.477 (0.071) | 0.490 (0.326) | 0.006 (0.956) | 0.383 (0.267) | 0.221 (0.103) | 0.464 (0.143) |
| Age at first full-term pregnancya (years) | ||||||||
| Below 25 | 51.8 (50.6–53.0) | 0.75 (0.73–0.77) | 107 (105–110) | 2.28 (2.22–2.35) | 1797 (1740–1856) | 0.82 (0.80–0.85) | 12.4 (12.0–12.8) | 41.2 (40.4–42.1) |
| 25 and above | 50.8 (49.7–52.0) | 0.73 (0.72–0.75) | 106 (104–109) | 2.28 (2.22–2.34) | 1794 (1741–1849) | 0.82 (0.80–0.84) | 12.3 (11.9–12.7) | 41.6 (40.8–42.4) |
| P for heterogeneity | 0.249 | 0.262 | 0.646 | 0.955 | 0.937 | 0.865 | 0.640 | 0.535 |
| Years since menopause b | ||||||||
| 0–4 | 57.3 (54.6–60.0) | 0.84 (0.79–0.88) | 109 (104–115) | 2.30 (2.17–2.43) | 1941 (1819–2071) | 0.82 (0.77–0.87) | 12.4 (11.7–13.3) | 40.1 (38.4–41.9) |
| 5–14 | 49.5 (48.3–50.7) | 0.72 (0.70–0.74) | 105 (102–108) | 2.26 (2.20–2.32) | 1750 (1693–1810) | 0.81 (0.79–0.84) | 12.3 (11.9–12.7) | 41.2 (40.3–42.2) |
| 15+ | 51.1 (49.2–53.0) | 0.72 (0.69–0.75) | 108 (104–113) | 2.31 (2.21–2.41) | 1790 (1697–1888) | 0.84 (0.80–0.88) | 12.4 (11.8–13.1) | 42.6 (41.1–44.2) |
| P for heterogeneity (trend) | <0.001 (0.003) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.216 (0.922) | 0.664 (0.844) | 0.017 (0.129) | 0.612 (0.603) | 0.896 (0.945) | 0.194 (0.072) |
| Family history of breast cancer | ||||||||
| No | 51.1 (49.9–52.4) | 0.74 (0.72–0.76) | 107 (104–109) | 2.29 (2.22–2.36) | 1805 (1743–1870) | 0.81 (0.79–0.84) | 12.2 (11.8–12.7) | 41.5 (40.6–42.3) |
| Yes | 52.1 (49.4–54.9) | 0.76 (0.71–0.81) | 107 (102–113) | 2.25 (2.10–2.42) | 1745 (1608–1894) | 0.86 (0.80–0.93) | 13.0 (11.9–14.1) | 41.2 (39.2–43.3) |
| P for heterogeneity | 0.534 | 0.366 | 0.851 | 0.704 | 0.459 | 0.170 | 0.210 | 0.826 |
| Previous use of hormonal contraceptives | ||||||||
| No | 50.6 (49.6–51.5) | 0.73 (0.71–0.74) | 106 (104–108) | 2.33 (2.28–2.39) | 1796 (1751–1843) | 0.83 (0.81–0.85) | 12.4 (12.0–12.7) | 41.7 (41.0–42.4) |
| Yes | 53.0 (51.5–54.5) | 0.77 (0.75–0.80) | 109 (106–112) | 2.18 (2.11–2.25) | 1795 (1727–1865) | 0.81 (0.78–0.84) | 12.3 (11.8–12.8) | 40.7 (39.7–41.8) |
| P for heterogeneity | 0.010 | 0.002 | 0.164 | 0.001 | 0.972 | 0.283 | 0.895 | 0.129 |
| Previous use of hormone therapy b | ||||||||
| No | 51.2 (50.3–52.1) | 0.74 (0.73–0.76) | 109 (106–111) | 2.31 (2.25–2.36) | 1809 (1762–1858) | 0.83 (0.81–0.85) | 12.5 (12.1–12.8) | 41.5 (40.8–42.2) |
| Yes | 51.9 (49.9–54.0) | 0.75 (0.72–0.79) | 99 (95–104) | 2.16 (2.04–2.28) | 1731 (1630–1837) | 0.77 (0.73–0.82) | 11.7 (11.0–12.4) | 41.2 (39.6–42.8) |
| P for heterogeneity | 0.542 | 0.582 | 0.001 | 0.027 | 0.186 | 0.022 | 0.050 | 0.729 |
Abbreviations: DHEAS=dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate; SHBG=sex hormone-binding globulin.
a
Parous women only.
b
Natural postmenopausal women only. P-values relate to tests of heterogeneity across categories (trend), the latter obtained by scoring the categories 1, 2, 3… as required.