Premenstrual disorders tied to earlier natural menopause

Premenstrual disorders (PMDs) are associated with a higher risk for early menopause, according to a study published online Sept. 19 in JAMA Network Open.

Yihui Yang, from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues examined whether women with PMDs have increased risks for early menopause and menopause-related vasomotor symptoms (VMS). The analysis included 3,635 participants in the Nurses' Health Study II (June 1991 to June 2017).

The researchers found that early natural menopause (menopause at younger than 45 years) was reported by 17 women with PMDs (7.1 per 1,000 person-years) and 12 women without PMDs (2.7 per 1,000 person-years; adjusted hazard ratio, 2.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.27 to 5.59). Moderate or severe VMS was reported by 68.3% of women with PMDs and 55.3% of women without PMDs (adjusted odds ratio, 1.68; 95% confidence interval, 1.32 to 2.14). There was no association observed between PMDs and mild VMS (adjusted odds ratio, 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.76 to 1.28).

"PMDs may be indicative of underlying physiology linked to early menopause and VMS, suggesting a phenotype observable during the reproductive years that may allow clinicians to target women at risk of earlier menopause and subsequent health risks later in the life course," the authors write.