Ages at menarche and menopause, hormone therapy, and the risk of depression

To examine the association between female reproductive factors and the risk of depression.

A retrospective cohort study was performed using a national database in South Korea. Among 945,729 eligible postmenopausal women, the associations between female reproductive factors including the age at menarche, age at menopause, parity, duration of oral contraceptive (OC) use, duration of breastfeeding, and use of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), and the occurrence of depression were investigated.

Compared to women with menarche at the age of ≤12 years, those with menarche at the age of ≥15 showed an increased risk of depression [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.09 for 15-16 years and 1.18 for ≥17 years]. Compared to women with menopause at the age of 50-54, those with menopause at an earlier age showed an increased risk of depression (aHR of 1.20 for <40 years), and those with menopause at a later age showed a decreased risk of depression (aHR of 0.94 for ≥55 years). Use of MHT was associated with an increased risk of depression (aHR of 1.30 for ≥5 years). Duration of breastfeeding and duration of OC use had U-shaped but weak associations with depression. Whereas parity did not show a significant association with depression.

Late menarche, early menopause, and the use of MHT were associated with an increased risk of depression in postmenopausal women.