Journal
MENOPAUSE-THE JOURNAL OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MENOPAUSE SOCIETY
Volume 17, Issue 3, Pages 552-559Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/gme.0b013e3181ceca7a
Keywords
Menopause; Life course; Socioeconomic factors; Epidemiology
Categories
Funding
- Institute of Gender and Health, Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR)
- Strategic Training Initiative in Research in Reproductive Health Sciences (STIRRHS-CIHR)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between life course socioeconomic adversity and age at menopause in Latin America and the Caribbean. Methods: Data from 4,056 women aged 60 to 79 years randomly selected from seven cities in Latin America and the Caribbean were analyzed. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the probability of age at menopause by indicators of life course socioeconomic adversity. Results: Median age at menopause was 50 years. The following life course socioeconomic indicators were associated with earlier age at menopause: low education (hazard ratio [HR], 1.16; 95% CI, 1.07-1.26) and manual occupation/housewives (HR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.03-1.20). Other factors associated with earlier age at menopause were current smoking (HR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.03-1.27), nulliparity (HR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.02-1.28), and multiparity (five children or more; HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.06-1.24). There was a cumulative effect of socioeconomic adversities across the life course. The median age at menopause was lower for women with six indicators of life course socioeconomic adversity compared with women with no adversities (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.10-1.77). Conclusions: Median age at menopause occurs several years earlier in women from Latin America and the Caribbean compared with women from high-income countries. The results support the association between life course socioeconomic adversity and age at menopause.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available