[Relationship of menopause with cardiovascular disease and related metabolic disorders]

To explore the associations of menopause with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and related metabolic disorders (including hypertension, diabetes or higher blood sugar, obesity, dyslipidemia) in Chinese females aged 45-59 years .

Data were acquired from a national cross-sectional survey conducted in 2013, China, which was also the second follow-up survey of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). In the study, 4 702 Chinese perimenopausal women aged 45-59 years were enrolled, including 1 769 premenopausal women and 2 933 postmenopausal women. Information was collected from questionnaires of health status and functioning and physical examination. General liner models were employed to calculate age-adjusted or age-and-body-mass-index-adjusted or multiple-factor-adjusted means and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs). The comparisons of CVD and its risk factors according to menopausal status, and calculation of adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and their 95%CIs for the associations of menopause with CVD and its risk factors were performed by multivariate Logistic regression models separately.

After adjustment for age and other confounders (including body mass index, marriage, education, current smoking, drink alcohol more than once per month), statistically significant associations of menopause with cardiovascular disease, which referred to having a history of heart disease or stroke in this study,were observed in the participants (OR=1.34,95%CI: 1.04-1.74); prevalence of hypertension (OR=1.42, 95%CI: 1.10-1.84), prevalence of CRFs clustering number≥2 (OR=1.31, 95%CI: 1.02-1.68) and average waist circumference level (87.11 cm, 95%CI: 86.81-87.42 cm in post-menopausal group vs. 86.41 cm, 95%CI: 85.99-86.84 cm in premenopausal group) were presented higher in postmenopausal group, compared with the premenopausal one. However, diabetes or higher blood sugar (OR= 0.96, 95%CI: 0.60-1.52), dyslipidemia (OR= 0.84, 95%CI: 0.59-1.20) and obesity (OR=1.06, 95%CI: 0.86-1.32) were not shown significantly statistically related to menopause, after excluding effect of age and other confounders.

Postmenopausal women in China had worse CRFs profile than the premenopausal ones, which implied menopause might aggravate the CRFs epidemic and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease beyond effects of aging, which would increase the CVD burden during and after their middle ages.