Marital status and age at natural menopause: considering pheromonal influence.
Married women generally report a later mean age at menopause. The results reported here, from a study carried out in Greene County, New York, are no exception. Married and widowed women report a later mean age at natural menopause compared to single and divorced women (P < 0.05). To better understand the relationship between marital status and age at menopause, possible mechanistic and confounding variables are examined, in particular parity, sexual activity, smoking habits, level of education, and income. Parity and income 10 years prior to interview are significant factors, along with marital status, that explain part of the variation in age at natural menopause. An alternative explanation is the pheromonal influence of a male in the household. This would explain the consistency of results across populations. This pilot study supports further biochemical investigation.
Sievert
L L
LL
Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 01003-4805, USA. leidy@anthro.umass.edu
Waddle
D
D
Canali
K
K
D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D004243:Divorce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D010298:Parity; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012847:Single Person / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017805:Widowhood / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D012724:Sex Attractants