Associations Between Age At Menarche And Menopause With Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes And Osteoporosis In Chinese Postmenopausal Women

Background and aims: Age at menarche and menopause are associated with cardiovasculardisease, diabetes and osteoporosis in Caucasian women, but associations remain unexplored inChinese women. Therefore, we conducted this study to assess associations between age atmenarche and menopause with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis in Chinesewomen.Methods:3304postmenopausal women from two cities (Ningde and Wuyishan) of FujianProvince were eventually enrolled in analyses. Oral glucose tolerance test,12-lead restingmajor abnormal electrocardiogram and calcaneus quantitative ultrasound were performed.Data analyses were conducted with Windows SPSS19statistical software package (SPSS,Chicago, IL, USA).Results: No significant associations were found between menarche age, diabetes andosteoporosis (both P>0.05); later menarche (>18years) was significantly associated withlower CVD risk (OR=0.71,95%CI:0.57to0.89). Menopause age was not associated withdiabetes; higher menopause age was associated with decreasing CVD risk (P for trend=0.02)and earlier menopause (≤46years) with significantly higher osteoporosis risk (OR=1.59,95%CI:1.07to2.36).Conclusions: In China, ages of menarche and menopause are not associated with diabetes.Later menarche and menopause are associated with decreasing CVD risk and earliermenopause with higher osteoporosis risk. Menarche and menopause history may help identifywomen with increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease or osteoporosis.