Table 1.
Study population characteristics of women according to number of children, age at menarche, oral contraceptive use, and age at menopause
| Number of children | Age at menarche (years) | Oral contraceptives | Age at menopause (years) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 5+ | ≥17 | <13 | No | Yes | <40 | ≥55 | |
| n | 2507 | 9756 | 4491 | 5034 | 25905 | 9280 | 894 | 1921 |
| Age at interview, years | 55.1 ± 8.1 | 62.1 ± 6.7 | 59.7 ± 7.7 | 52.8 ± 6.9 | 57.4 ± 8.3 | 53.3 ± 6.2 | 57.8 ± 8.0 | 62.5 ± 5.0 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 22.5 ± 3.5 | 23.6 ± 3.3 | 23.1 ± 3.2 | 23.4 ± 3.5 | 23.2 ± 3.3 | 23.3 ± 3.3 | 23.4 ± 3.6 | 23.5 ± 3.3 |
| Dialect group, n (%) | ||||||||
| Hokkien | 1532 (61.1) | 3491 (35.8) | 1696 (37.8) | 3146 (62.5) | 12057 (46.5) | 4824 (52.0) | 400 (44.7) | 1038 (54.0) |
| Cantonese | 975 (38.9) | 6265 (64.2) | 2795 (62.2) | 1888 (37.5) | 13848 (53.5) | 4456 (48.0) | 494 (55.3) | 883 (46.0) |
| Education, n (%) | ||||||||
| None | 656 (26.2) | 6563 (67.3) | 2699 (60.1) | 1046 (20.8) | 11456 (44.2) | 2739 (29.5) | 426 (47.7) | 1032 (53.7) |
| Primary | 879 (35.1) | 2840 (29.1) | 1467 (32.7) | 1793 (35.6) | 9361 (36.1) | 4345 (46.8) | 297 (33.2) | 717 (37.3) |
| Secondary school or higher | 972 (38.8) | 353 (3.6) | 325 (7.2) | 2195 (43.6) | 5088 (19.6) | 2196 (23.7) | 171 (19.1) | 172 (9.0) |
| Smoking, n (%) | ||||||||
| Never | 2269 (90.5) | 8338 (85.5) | 3985 (88.7) | 4707 (93.5) | 23430 (90.4) | 8659 (93.3) | 774 (86.6) | 1714 (89.2) |
| Former | 88 (3.5) | 380 (3.9) | 153 (3.4) | 99 (2.0) | 714 (2.8) | 180 (1.9) | 32 (3.6) | 72 (3.8) |
| Current | 150 (6.0) | 1038 (10.6) | 353 (7.9) | 228 (4.5) | 1761 (6.8) | 441 (4.8) | 88 (9.8) | 135 (7.0) |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 507 (20.2) | 2969 (30.4) | 1081 (24.1) | 1201 (23.9) | 6246 (24.1) | 2194 (23.6) | 243 (27.2) | 663 (34.5) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 164 (6.5) | 1445 (14.8) | 462 (10.3) | 434 (8.6) | 2503 (9.7) | 746 (8.0) | 120 (13.4) | 263 (13.7) |
| Coronary artery disease, n (%) | 65 (2.6) | 560 (5.7) | 189 (4.2) | 147 (2.9) | 970 (3.7) | 252 (2.7) | 64 (7.2) | 96 (5.0) |
| Stroke, n (%) | 164 (6.5) | 1445 (14.8) | 462 (10.3) | 434 (8.6) | 2503 (9.7) | 746 (8.0) | 120 (13.4) | 263 (13.7) |
| Physical activity, h/week | 1.1 ± 3.3 | 0.9 ± 2.8 | 1.0 ± 3.0 | 1.1 ± 3.0 | 1.0 ± 3.0 | 1.0 ± 2.9 | 1.0 ± 3.2 | 1.0 ± 2.9 |
| Sitting, hours/day | 7.3 ± 3.8 | 5.1 ± 2.6 | 5.4 ± 2.8 | 6.7 ± 3.4 | 5.8 ± 3.1 | 6.2 ± 3.1 | 5.9 ± 3.0 | 5.6 ± 2.7 |
| Sleep, h/day | 7.1 ± 1.1 | 7.0 ± 1.2 | 7.0 ± 1.2 | 7.0 ± 1.1 | 7.0 ± 1.1 | 7.0 ± 1.1 | 7.0 ± 1.2 | 7.0 ± 1.2 |
| Age at menarche, years | 14.0 ± 1.8 | 14.9 ± 1.7 | 17.5 ± 0.0 | 11.5 ± 0.2 | 14.5 ± 1.8 | 14.2 ± 1.8 | 14.4 ± 1.9 | 15.0 ± 1.7 |
| Oral contraceptives, n (%) | 44 (1.8) | 1901 (19.5) | 938 (20.9) | 1592 (31.6) | 0 (0.0) | 9280 (100.0) | 210 (23.5) | 417 (21.7) |
| Age at menopause, years | 48.3 ± 4.7 | 49.9 ± 4.1 | 49.7 ± 4.4 | 48.2 ± 4.5 | 49.4 ± 4.3 | 49.3 ± 4.3 | 37.0 ± 0.0 | 56.0 ± 0.0 |
| Hormone replacement therapy, n (%) | 195 (7.8) | 204 (2.1) | 130 (2.9) | 479 (9.5) | 1206 (4.7) | 808 (8.7) | 126 (14.1) | 71 (3.7) |
| Number of children | 0.0 ± 0.0 | 6.6 ± 1.7 | 4.3 ± 2.5 | 2.7 ± 1.9 | 3.6 ± 2.5 | 3.5 ± 1.7 | 3.4 ± 2.4 | 4.5 ± 2.5 |
The data are expressed as n (%) or mean ± standard deviation.