Menopause in type 1 diabetic women: is it premature?
Women with type 1 diabetes have a delayed menarche and a greater prevalence of menstrual disorders than women without diabetes. However, little is known about the menopause transition among type 1 diabetic women. The Familial Autoimmune and Diabetes (FAD) Study recruited both adult individuals who were identified from the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Type 1 Diabetes Registry for the years 1950-1964 and their family members. Unrelated nondiabetic control probands and their relatives were also evaluated. Women with type 1 diabetes (n = 143) compared with nondiabetic sisters (n = 186) or unrelated control subjects (n = 160) were more likely to have an older age at menarche (13.5, 12.5, and 12.6 years, respectively, P < 0.001), more menstrual irregularities before 30 years of age (45.7, 33.3, and 33.1%, respectively, P = 0.04), and a younger age at menopause (41.6, 49.9, and 48.0 years, respectively, P = 0.05). This resulted in a 6-year reduction in the number of reproductive years (30.0, 37.0, and 35.2 years, respectively, P = 0.05) for women with type 1 diabetes. Risk factors univariately associated with earlier menopause included type 1 diabetes (hazard ratio [HR] 1.99, P = 0.04), menstrual irregularities before 30 years of age (HR 1.87, P = 0.04), nulliparity (HR 2.14, P = 0.01), and unilateral oophorectomy (HR 6.51, P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis confirmed that type 1 diabetes (HR 1.98, P = 0.056), menstrual irregularities by 30 years of age (HR 2.36, P = 0.01), and unilateral oophorectomy (HR 9.76, P < 0.0001) were independent determinants of earlier menopause in our cohort. We hypothesize that an earlier menopause, which resulted in a 17% decrease in reproductive years, is a major unstudied complication of type 1 diabetes.
Dorman
J S
JS
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA. jansdorman@aol.com
Steenkiste
A R
AR
Foley
T P
TP
Strotmeyer
E S
ES
Burke
J P
JP
Kuller
L H
LH
Kwoh
C K
CK
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008572:Menarche; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008594:Menopause, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009679:Nuclear Family; D010052:Ovariectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010298:Parity; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States