Table 3.
Association between the age at menarche and age at natural menopause
| Author, study, country | Population (N) | Designa | Menarche: definition/categories (y) | Menopause: definition | Analysis | Findingsb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin (1960), South Africa108 | NHW, clinical (1000) | 2 | Early: <13 Late: >14 |
12 m post menses | Frequencies (no adj) | NS |
| Jaszmann et al (1969), The Netherlands (Ede borough)109 | 42–62 y, residents, b 1905–1925 (3548) | 3, mail questionnaire | Nd | LMP if 12 m post menses | Probit analysis (no adj) | NS |
| McKinlay et al (1972), England48 | 45–54 y, clinical (736) | 3, mail questionnaire | Early: <13 Late: >15 |
LMP if post menses > 3 m before study | Frequencies (no adj) | NS |
| Magurský et al (1975), Czechoslovakia110 | 38–58 y, residents (6877) | 3, interview | <10, 10–12, 12–14, 14–16, 16–18, >18 | >1 y post menses Climacteric: >2 physical symptoms | Correlation coefficient between median ages (no adj) | NS |
| Brand and Lehert (1978),111 The Netherlands (Ede borough) | 40–60 y, residents (3777) | 3, mail questionnaire | Nd | LMP if 12 m post menses | AID segmentation analysis (no adj) | NS |
| van Keep et al (1979)100 Second report on same borough as Jaszmann et al105 and Brand and Lehert,111 The Netherlands (Ede borough) |
40–60 y, residents (1196) | 3, mail questionnaire | Early: <12 Late: >17 |
LMP if 12 m post menses | χ2 (no adj) | Inverse |
| Neri et al (1982), Israel112 | >40 y, Europeans, Africans, Israelis, Arabs (1197) | 3, doctor-administered questionnaire | Nd | “Last bleeding” | ANOVA – adj for ethnicity | NS |
| Stanford et al (1987), BCDDP, USA113 | NHW control group (3497) | 3, interview | ≤11, 12, 13, ≥14 | LMP if post menses > 3 months before study | Mantel–Cox test (no adj) | NS |
| Okonofua et al (1990), Nigeria114 | 44–87 y, Yoruba residents, clinical sample (563) | 3, questionnaire | Nd | Nd | Regression (no adj) | NS |
| Whelan et al (1990), Treloar’s study, USA115 | Multiple age and generation cohorts (561) | 1, with >19 y of records | <12, 12–14, ≥15 | Nd | LR – adj for parity and median cycle length at age 20–35 y | NS |
| Parazzini et al (1992), Italy116 | 55–74 y, control group from hospitals (863) | 3, interview | ≤11, 12–14, ≥15 | Nd | Univariate trend analysis (no adj) | NS |
| Chompootweep et al (1993), Thailand117 | 45–59 y, health-center clients (1327) | 3, interview | Continuous variable | LMP if 12 m post menses | Correlation coefficient (no adj) | NS |
| Beşer et al (1994), Turkey118 | 40–54 y, population based | 3, home interview | ≤15, >15 | 12 m post menses | Difference in means test | NS |
| Boulet et al (1994), Southeast Asia107 | 40–60 y, clinical and resident volunteers in seven countries (2181) | 3, questionnaire by interview in six to seven countries | Nd | LMP if 12 m post menses Perimenopausal if cycle irregular in last 12 m | LR | Inverse |
| Torgerson et al (1994), CHI, UK119 | NHW, 45–49 y, population based (2074) | 3, mail questionnaire | Nd | Two definitions: LMP if 6, or 12, m post menses | χ2 (no adj) | NS |
| Cramer et al (1995), USA101 | 45–54 y, residents, 344 cases and 344 controls (688) | 3, home interview | Early: ≤11, 12–13, ≥=14 |
LMP | OR (no adj) | Direct |
| van Noord et al (1997), DOM, The Netherlands91 | Cohort subsample, b1911–1925(4686) | 1, fifth-round questionnaire | Continuous variable | LMP if 12 m post menses “Early”/bottom vs “late”/top tertiles | t-test (no adj) | NS |
| Rizk et al (1998), United Arab Emirates120 | >40 y, population based (742) | 3, staff-administered questionnaire | Nd | 6 m post menses | Correlation coefficient (no adj) | NS |
| Snieder et al (1998), UK69 | 256 MZ and 269 DZ twin pair volunteers (1050) | 3, nurse-administered questionnaire | Continuous variable | Age at LMP | Pearson r-statistic (no adj) | NS |
| Kato et al (1998), NYU Women’s Health Study, USA121 | Subsample of 34–65 y (4694) | 1, baseline and follow-up data | ≤11, 12, 13, ≥14 | 6 m post menses | Cox PHM – adj for age | NS |
| Hardy and Kuh (1999), 1946 MRC birth cohort, UK102 | Born in 1 week in March 1946, mail questionnaires (1060) | 1, five rounds (censored data) | ≤ 11, 12–14, “Late”: ≥15 | LMP if 12 m post menses Perimenopause is LMP if 3–12 m without period, or date when cycle irregular in last 12 m | Cox PHM – adj for parity, OC use, oophorectomy | Direct (for perimenopause) |
| Nagata et al (2000), Takayama Study, Japan103 | Resident volunteers (1130) | 1 | ≤ 12, 13–14, 15–16 “Late”: ≥17 | LMP if 12 m post menses | Cox PHM – adj for age | Direct |
| Meschia et al (2000), ICARUS, Italy122 | ≥55 y, clinical (4300) | 1, baseline data | ≤11, 12, 13, 14, ≥15 | ≥12 m post menses | ANCOVA–adj for BMI, smoking, parity | NS |
| Cooper et al (2001), NHANES III, USA123 | 35–49 y, with natural menopause (1696) | 3, interview, questionnaire | 8–10, 11–13, 14–15, 16–19 | LMP if 12 m post menses | LR – adj for age, smoking, oophorectomy | NS |
| Reynolds and Obermeyer (2001), Lebanon124 | 45–55 y, population based (298) | 3, in-person interviews | Nd | Cessation of menses (self-report) | LR (no adj) | NS |
| Palmer et al (2003), Black Women’s Health Study, USA125 | Cohort members (17,070) | 1, mailed questionnaires at two time points | <11, 11, 12–13, 14, ≥15 | Cessation of periods (self-report) | Cox PHM – adj for smoking, parity, OC, education, BMI, oophorectomy, physical activity | NS |
| Rödström et al (2003), Gothenburg study, Sweden93 | Population based, five birth cohorts (1017) | 1, examinations/questionnaires at five time points | Continuous variable | 12 m post menses | MLR – adj for birth cohort, smoking, parity, BMI, social class, education | Direct |
| Ozdemir and Cöl (2004), Turkey104 | 50–65 y, residents in catchment area (204) | 3, in-person interview | Early: ≤ 13 Late: ≥14 |
LMP if 12 m post menses Perimenopausal if cycle/flow irregular in last 12 m | χ2 (no adj) | Direct |
| Nagel et al (2005), EPIC-Heidelberg, Germany126 | Subsample of 35–65 y (5110) | 1, questionnaires at two time points | <11, 12, 13, 14, ≥15 | 12 m post menses | Cox PHM – adj for age | NS |
| Parazzini (2007), Italy105 | >55 y, clinical (31,834) | 3, clinical exam, interview | ≤11, 12, 13, 14, ≥15 | ≥12 m post menses | χ2 – adj for age | Direct |
| Kaczmarek (2007), Cross-national study of health and quality of life in middle-aged women (WOMID), Poland95 | 35–65 y, volunteers (7183) | 3, questionnaire | Early: <14 Late: ≥14 |
LMP if 12 m post menses Perimenopausal if bleeding stopped for 3–12 m or if cycle irregular in last 12 m | MLR – adj for education, usual cycle length, OC, parity, smoking, health status | Direct |
| Henderson et al (2008), Multiethnic Cohort Study, USA87 | Subsample of 45–74 y, NHW, NHB, Latinas, Japanese-Americans, Hawaiians (95,704) | 1, baseline (censored data) | <11, 11–12, 13–14, 15–16, ≥17 | Cessation of bleeding or age started hormone therapy or surgical menopause | Cox PHM – adj for ethnicity, smoking, parity, BMI | Direct |
| Dorjgochoo et al (2008), Shanghai Women’s Health Study, China106 | 40–70 y, residents (33,054) | 1, baseline data | ≤11, 12–13, 14–15, ≥16 | LMP if 12 m post menses | MLR – adj for age, education, occupation, income, marital status, employment, energy intake, weight gain, smoking, physical activity | Direct |
| Dratva et al (2009), ECRHS and SAPALDIA, Europe94 | Random sample of adult populations (5288) | 1, questionnaire (censored data) | Continuous variable | 12 m post menses | Cox PHM – adj for countries, cohort | Direct |
| Sammel et al (2009), Penn Ovarian Aging Studies, USA88 | 35–47 y, population-based (436) | 1, questionnaires at ten points | Continuous variable | Five stages of menopausal transition | Markov transition models (no adj) | NS |
| Otero et al (2010), Pró-Saúde Study, Brazil127 | >35 y, university employees (1462) | 1, questionnaire | ≤11, ≥12 | >12 m post menses Perimenopausal if post menses < 6 m, or 6–12 m before study | Cox PHM – adj for parity, education, smoking | NS |
Notes:
a
1, cohort; 2, case-control; 3, cross-sectional.
b
“Inverse” indicates early menarche associated with late menopause and/or late menarche associated with early menopause; “direct” indicates early menarche associated with early menopause and/or late menarche associated with late menopause.
Abbreviations: adj, adjusted; ANCOVA, analysis of covariance; ANOVA, analysis of variance; b, born; BCDDP, Human Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project; BMI, body mass index; CHI, Community Health Index; Cox PHM, Cox proportional hazard model; DOM, Doorlopend Onderz oek Morbidi teit/Mortaliteit Study; DZ, dizygotic; ECRHS, European Respiratory Health Survey; ICARUS, Italian Climacteric Research Group Study; LMP, last menstrual period; LR, logistic regression; m, month/s; MLR, multivariate linear regression; MZ, monozygotic; Nd, not described; NHB, non-Hispanic black; NHW, non-Hispanic white; no adj, no adjustment in analyses/models; NS, not significant/no association; OC, oral contraceptive; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risk; SAPALDIA, Swiss Air Pollution and Lung Disease in Adults Cohort; y, year/s.