Age at Menopause and Its Main Predictors among Iranian Women

Since time of menopause is influenced by a variety of racial, environmental, and physiological factors, determining age at natural menopause and its main indicators seems to be necessary. The present study attempted to determine average age at menopause and its main predictors among Iranian women.

This descriptive-analytic study was carried out on 400 postmenopausal women aged 43 to 65 years attending the health centers in Hamadan, Hamadan Province, Iran, during 2013. Due to potential effects of oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on age of menopause, we considered two groups of women with and without OCP use using cluster sampling method. Data were collected through individual interviews at the health centers.

The findings showed significant univariate relationships between age at menopause with some baseline variables including mother's age at menopause (p<0.001), mother and spouse with high educational level (p<0.001), passive cigarette smoking (p<0.001), weekly physical activity (p<0.001), and high family income (p<001). Adversely, smoking was associated with early menopause.

The postmenopausal women doing intense weekly physical activity, having mothers with late menopause, having higher monthly income, and experiencing later-age pregnancy are likely to reach menopause later than their contemporaries, while smokers have an early menopause.