Background. Early menopause is a risk factor for several health-related problems of women. No single study was available in literature to determine the associated factors for early menopause in Bangladesh. Objectives. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with early menopause in Bangladesh. Material and methods. Data was extracted from the nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014. This data was collected from 17,863 married Bangladeshi women throughout the entire country using two-stage stratified cluster sampling. The BDHS 2014 report showed that women aged 30-49 years are estimated to be menopausal. Considering this estimation, we excluded women whose age was less than 30 years. Women whose menstrual periods had stopped because of pregnancy and postpartum amenorrhea, as well as those with some incomplete information and missing samples, were excluded from data. Consequently, 8,885 women were considered for this study. The chi-square test was used for bivariate analysis, and logistic regression was used as multivariate analysis. Results. The prevalence of early menopause in Bangladesh was 10.80%. The binary multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that women with no education were more likely to experience early menopause compared to women of higher education [AOR = 3.39, 95% CI: 2.22-5.20, p < 0.001]. A lower rate of early menopause was especially found among women who were living in the Sylhet division that were currently married and currently using contraceptive methods. Conclusions. The stepwise binary logistic regression model exhibited that most of the significant predictors were modifiable factors for early menopause. Authorities should provide basic education on early menopause to less educated women.

Background. Premature menopause has received much attention due to the increased life expectancy of women. It is harmful for women's lives, and it brings changes in women's behaviour. No study has been carried out in Bangladesh concerning premature menopause based on a national survey. Objectives. The aim of this study was to explore the scenario of premature menopause among Bangladeshi women and to identify the risk factors associated with premature menopause. Material and methods. In this study, we considered secondary data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014. Data was collected from 17,863 ever-married women within the reproductive age of 15-49 years using two-stage stratified cluster sampling. The BDHS report showed that a women could not experience menopause before the age of 30 years. Thus, we took into consideration 9,336 women 30 years of age and above. After deleting the missing values and usual observations, 8,885 samples were considered for our final analysis. The Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model were used for statistical analysis. Results. The results showed that region, educational attainment, wealth index, employment status, marital status and contraceptive method use status were statistically significant risk factors for premature menopause in Bangladesh. Conclusions. From the entire study, it was confirmed that there were several risk factors for premature menopause in Bangladesh.