title: The Association Between Menarche and Myopia: Findings From the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination, 2008-2012.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between age at menarche and myopia in Korean adult females.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 8398 women of at least 19 years of age, who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2008 to 2012, underwent a refractive examination using an autorefractor. The association between age at menarche and the severity of myopia was evaluated using a four-level multinomial logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of myopia was 61.77% (95% confidence interval [CI], 60.46-63.08), including 40.02% with low, 15.46% with moderate, and 6.29% with high myopia. The mean age at menarche was 14.09 ± 0.03 years. Age at menarche was inversely associated with the severity of myopia. In fully adjusted models, older age at menarche decreased the risk of moderate myopia (odds ratio [OR], 0.93; 95% CI, 0.86-0.99; P = 0.0261), and high myopia (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.77-0.95; P = 0.0012).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Later age at menarche is associated with a decreased risk of moderate and high myopia. The effects of female sex hormones on ocular structures and growth spurts may mediate this relationship between age at menarche and myopia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: In Jeong
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Lyu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung Hun
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology Center, Research Institute for Future Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology Center, Research Institute for Future Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joungyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Ah
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sei Yeul
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008572:Menarche; D009216:Myopia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies