Table 3.
Characteristics of the M-PreM participants and the remainder of the ALSWH 1973–1978 cohort
| M-PreM clinical assessment n=499 (7.01%) |
M-PreM self-assessment n=779 (10.94%) |
1973–1978 ALSWH survey 8 cohort, not in M-PreM n=5843 (82.05%) |
P value* | |
| Area of residence, n (%) | ||||
| Major city | 463 (93.16) | 313 (40.44) | 3248 (57.40) | <0.0001 |
| Inner regional | 26 (5.23) | 275 (35.53) | 1594 (28.17) | |
| Outer regional | 4 (0.80) | 164 (21.19) | 695 (12.28) | |
| Remote | 4 (0.80) | 22 (2.84) | 122 (2.16) | |
| Missing | 2 | 5 | 184 | |
| Highest qualification, n (%) | ||||
| Less than year 12 or equivalent | 10 (2.00) | 39 (5.01) | 305 (5.55) | <0.0001 |
| Year 12 or equivalent | 24 (4.81) | 68 (8.73) | 529 (9.62) | |
| Trade/apprenticeship/certificate/diploma | 92 (18.44) | 229 (29.40) | 1586 (28.85) | |
| University | 373 (74.75) | 443 (56.87) | 3078 (55.98) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 345 | |
| Marital status, n (%) | ||||
| Never married | 58 (11.62) | 77 (9.88) | 636 (11.55) | 0.771 |
| Married/de facto | 390 (78.16) | 624 (80.10) | 4299 (78.08) | |
| Separated | 26 (5.21) | 33 (4.24) | 236 (4.29) | |
| Divorced | 22 (4.41) | 40 (5.13) | 309 (5.61) | |
| Widowed | 3 (0.60) | 5 (0.64) | 26 (0.47) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 337 | |
| Employment status, n (%) | ||||
| Not in labour force | 60 (12.02) | 103 (13.24) | 840 (14.89) | 0.028 |
| Employed full time | 225 (45.09) | 330 (42.42) | 2529 (44.82) | |
| Employed part time | 180 (36.07) | 274 (35.22) | 1752 (31.05) | |
| Employed casually | 34 (6.81) | 71 (9.13) | 521 (9.23) | |
| Missing | 0 | 1 | 201 | |
| Self-reported health, n (%) | ||||
| Excellent/very good | 300 (60.12) | 477 (61.23) | 3130 (53.89) | 0.0002 |
| Good | 157 (31.46) | 220 (28.24) | 2003 (34.49) | |
| Fair/poor | 42 (8.42) | 82 (10.53) | 675 (11.62) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 35 | |
| Smoking status, n (%) | ||||
| Never smoked | 344 (68.94) | 482 (61.95) | 3428 (61.00) | 0.0002 |
| Ex-smoker | 125 (25.05) | 235 (30.21) | 1587 (28.24) | |
| Current smoker | 30 (6.01) | 61 (7.84) | 605 (10.77) | |
| Missing | 0 | 1 | 223 | |
| Alcohol use, n (%) | ||||
| Non-drinker | 39 (7.82) | 64 (8.23) | 609 (10.82) | 0.014 |
| Low risk | 432 (86.57) | 663 (85.22) | 4598 (81.73) | |
| High risk | 28 (5.61) | 51 (6.56) | 419 (7.45) | |
| Missing | 0 | 1 | 217 | |
| Number of children, n (%) | ||||
| No children | 105 (21.04) | 127 (16.30) | 1149 (19.66) | 0.005 |
| 1 child | 56 (11.22) | 96 (12.32) | 789 (13.50) | |
| 2 children | 229 (45.89) | 345 (44.29) | 2328 (39.84) | |
| 3 or more children | 109 (21.84) | 211 (27.09) | 1577 (26.99) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Age at menarche, n (%) | ||||
| 11 years or younger | 52 (12.53) | 74 (11.23) | 551 (11.51) | 0.749 |
| 12 years | 115 (27.71) | 185 (28.07) | 1371 (28.63) | |
| 13 years | 124 (29.88) | 202 (30.65) | 1482 (30.95) | |
| 14 years | 80 (19.28) | 106 (16.08) | 813 (16.98) | |
| 15 years or older | 44 (10.60) | 92 (13.96) | 571 (11.93) | |
| Missing | 84 | 120 | 1055 | |
| History of preterm birth, n (%) | ||||
| Yes | 33 (8.38) | 87 (13.43) | 668 (14.49) | 0.003 |
| No | 361 (91.62) | 561 (86.57) | 3943 (85.51) | |
| Missing | 105 | 131 | 1232 | |
| History of stillbirth, n (%) | ||||
| Yes | 11 (2.79) | 7 (1.07) | 92 (1.96) | 0.128 |
| No | 383 (97.21) | 645 (98.93) | 4593 (98.04) | |
| Missing | 105 | 127 | 1158 | |
| History of gestational diabetes (%) | ||||
| Yes | 39 (9.90) | 64 (9.89) | 490 (10.63) | 0.782 |
| No | 355 (91.10) | 583 (90.11) | 4119 (89.37) | |
| Missing | 105 | 132 | 1234 | |
| History of gestational hypertension (%) | ||||
| Yes | 39 (9.92) | 98 (15.15) | 646 (14.02) | 0.0476 |
| No | 354 (90.08) | 549 (84.85) | 3963 (85.98) | |
| Missing | 106 | 132 | 1234 | |
| Age at first birth, mean (SD) | 31.31 (4.92) | 29.67 (5.16) | 29.59 (5.28) | <0.0001 |
*Analysis was conducted using ANOVA and Χ2 tests.
ALSWH, Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health; ANOVA, analysis of variance; M-PreM, Menarche-to-PreMenopause.