Table 2.
Overall DHS participants baseline characteristics and subclinical measures of atherosclerosis by cycle length trajectory groups
| Characteristics | Stable N=328 |
Late increase N=41 |
Early increase N=59 |
P valued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years, Median (Q1, Q3) | 45 (43, 47) | 45 (44, 46) | 46 (44, 47) | 0.03 |
| Race, n (%) | 0.07 | |||
| Black | 65 (19.8) | 5 (12.2) | 10 (17.0) | |
| White | 100 (30.5) | 16 (39.0) | 15 (25.4) | |
| Chinese | 67 (20.4) | 14 (34.2) | 11 (18.6) | |
| Japanese | 83 (25.3) | 6 (14.6) | 7 (28.8) | |
| Hispanic | 13 (4.0) | 0 (0.0) | 6 (10.2) | |
| Difficulty paying for basics, n (%) | 0.0003 | |||
| Very hard | 17 (5.2) | 1 (2.5) | 9 (15.5) | |
| Somewhat hard | 112 (34.2) | 4 (10.0) | 13 (22.4) | |
| Not at all | 199 (60.7) | 35 (87.5) | 36 (62.1) | |
| Menopausal status, n (%) | 0.77 | |||
| Premenopause | 222 (67.9) | 26 (63.4) | 38 (64.4) | |
| Early Perimenopause | 105 (32.1) | 15 (36.6) | 21 (35.6) | |
| Education, n (%) | 0.47 | |||
| ≤ High school/some college | 168 (51.2) | 20 (48.8) | 35 (59.3) | |
| College degree/post college | 160 (48.8) | 21 (51.2) | 24 (40.7) | |
| BMI, kg/m2, Median (Q1, Q3) | 24.8 (21.6, 29.2) | 22.9 (20.8, 24.3) | 26.1 (22.3, 31.4) | 0.0003 |
| SBP, mmHg, Median (Q1, Q3) | 110 (102, 120) | 107 (101, 113) | 114 (107, 126) | 0.02 |
| HDL-C, mg/dL, Mean (SD) | 57.3 (13.1) | 63.4 (13.5) | 52.2 (13.4) | 0.0002 |
| LDL-C, mg/dL, Mean (SD) | 110.9 (28.3) | 106.0 (24.0) | 119.3 (30.3) | 0.06 |
| Triglycerides, mg/dL, Median (Q1, Q3) | 86.0 (64.0, 119.0) | 73.5 (54.5, 98.0) | 128.0 (87.0, 193.0) | <0.0001 |
| HOMA-IR index, Median (Q1, Q3) | 1.6 (1.2, 2.4) | 1.4 (1.2, 1.8) | 1.9 (1.3, 3.9) | 0.001 |
| Total physical activity score a, Mean (SD) | 7.7 (1.7) | 8.1 (1.6) | 7.6 (1.7) | 0.51 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 13 (4.0) | 1 (2.4) | 3 (5.1) | 0.83 |
| Ever-smoker, n (%) | 108 (33.1) | 11 (26.8) | 17 (28.8) | 0.62 |
| Use of medications b, n (%) | 36 (11.0) | 2 (4.9) | 8 (13.6) | 0.38 |
| Age at FMP, Mean (SD) | 53.1 (2.5) | 51.5 (2.0) | 53.5 (2.3) | 0.0002 |
| First cycle length, Mean (SD) | 27.0 (4.5) | 24.5 (4.3) | 30.9 (7.1) | <.0001 |
| Time preceding FMP, year, Mean (SD) | 7.6 (2.5) | 6.1 (2.2) | 7.2 (2.5) | 0.001 |
| Mean cIMT, mm, Mean (SD) c | 0.8 (0.1) | 0.7 (0.1) | 0.8 (0.1) | 0.007 |
| baPWV, cm/sec, Median (Q1, Q3) c | 1442 (1316, 1616) | 1324 (1164, 1457) | 1424 (1367, 1630) | 0.02 |
Higher score indicating more physical activity
Antihypertensive, antidiabetic, lipid lowering, or anticoagulants medications
Sample size for cIMT by groups (stable, late increase, early increase): 195, 33, 35; for baPWV: 161, 23, 29, respectively
We applied Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test to determine differences in the frequency of categorical variables and ANOVA to compare differences in the mean of continuous variables.
Abbreviations: FMP: final menstrual period; baPWV: brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity; cIMT: carotid intima-media thickness; BMI: body mass index; SBP: systolic blood pressure; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HOMA-IR: homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance.