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What Influences Duration of Menopausal Transition?
Menopause; ePub 2016 Sep 26; Pangaja, et al
Young age at onset was associated with a longer duration of the menopausal transition (MT), a recent study found. Data for 1,145 women from 4 sites of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation were analyzed. Participants from 4 racial/ethnic groups were included: African American, white, Chinese, and Japanese. Women completed daily menstrual calendars from 1996 to 2006 and questions on hormone therapy use monthly. Researchers found:
- Adjusted median duration of the MT ranged from 4.37 years among the oldest age at onset quartile to 8.57 years among the youngest age on onset quartile.
- Cigarette smoking was associated with an earlier onset and a shorter duration.
- African American women had a longer duration that white women.
- Body mass index (BMI) was associated with a later onset of the MT, but not its duration.
Paramsothy P, Harlow S, Nan B, et al. Duration of the menopausal transition is longer in women with young age at onset: The multiethnic Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. [Published online ahead of print September 26, 2016]. Menopause. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000000736.