Women with PCOS Take Longer to Reach Menopause

Credit: Unsplash / Microsoft Edge

Age at menopause is significantly and positively linked to the risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), according to data from a recent study.

Findings from an internationally-based study showed that women with PCOS had an approximate five percent extended time to menopause compared with women without PCOS.

The investigators sought to determine whether PCOS was linked with age at menopause in women compared to a group of women without the ovary syndrome. Prior research has shown a potential influence of PCOS on the age of menopause among aging women. An international analysis published in August 2023 showed that women with PCOS report higher anti-Müllerian hormone levels than those without; such levels are highly linked to follicle counts, which themselves are understood to be associated with differences in menopause age among women.

Investigators conducted their population-based study using data from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, an initiative designed to study noncommunicable disease risk factors and outcomes among the population of Tehran, Iran, implemented in 1999. It originally included 1696 participants of reproductive age from the original study who averaged a follow-up of approximately 20 years.

Among the participants, 348 women with PCOS (20.5 percent) were followed to interpret the age at which they reached menopause vs the control arm of 1348 women without PCOS (79.5 percent).

Their analyses were conducted with and without adjustment for potential confounders such as baseline age, menarche age, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, smoking status, oral contraceptive use, and history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The correlative risk of later-life BMI increase—and therefore, cardiovascular disease and T2DM risks—among women with PCOS is well established.

The investigators observed a significant, positive association between PCOS and age of natural menopause among affected women. Women experienced time to menopause by a factor of 1.05 compared with the control arm.

When adjusting for the confounders of age and clinical, demographic, and comorbid factors, investigators found the correlation between PCOS and age of natural menopause remained statistically significant.

The team concluded that their prospective analysis suggests a significant link between age to natural menopause and PCOS in women—an outcome that may complicate the understood fertility and reproductive health of women with PCOS.

“However, further large longitudinal studies on diverse populations accounting for other relevant confounders are still needed to provide data on the actual difference in age at menopause and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of this association,” they concluded.

This article was originally published on sister site Contemporary OB/GYN.