Age at menopause in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Considering that chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM) may determine premature ovarian failure by various mechanisms, we studied the age at menopause in women without diabetes and in women with type 2 DM.

We studied 409 women without diabetes and 404 patients with type 2 DM, selected from 45 to 55 years of age, for analysis with the status quo method. The age at menopause was calculated with a logistic regression on the proportions of menopausal women for each age group.

In the groups, 172 women without diabetes and 207 women with diabetes had menopause. The regression procedure gave a median age of 49.7 +/- SD 1.7 years for the whole group, 49.6 +/- 1.6 years for the nondiabetic group, and 49.8 +/- 1.7 years for women with diabetes. Women without diabetes were 1.4 years younger, but this factor did not have an influence on the results. Smoking habits, vegetarianism, and somatometric variables were similar in both groups, except for waist/hip and abdomen/hip ratios, larger in the group of women with diabetes. The mean for years since diagnosis in patients < 45 years of age was 4.9 years. For older patients, the figure increased to 8.9 years.

No difference for age at menopause was found between women without diabetes and women with type 2 diabetes who were 5 to 8 years since the diagnosis was made.