Childhood disadvantages and the timing of the onset of natural menopause in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the association of early life factors with the timing of the onset of natural menopause in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. We use Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the risk of the onset of menopause. Our results suggest that socioeconomic disadvantages, as expressed by difficulties attending school due to economic hardships or parents never living together, increase the risk of the onset of natural menopause among Puerto Rican women. Among Costa Rican women, early life nutrition, estimated using anthropometric measures, is related to the timing of the onset of natural menopause.

Association between neighborhood poverty and ovarian reserve: the ovarian aging study

“…Prior studies suggest that women from lower SES backgrounds have a lower ovarian reserve and an earlier age at menopause. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Few studies have considered whether SES at the neighborhood level may also impact the ovarian reserve. 26,27 The current study sought to fill this gap by leveraging a large sample of premenopausal women in the OVA Study to evaluate whether neighborhood SES is related to the ovarian reserve indexed by biomarkers, AMH and AFC.…”

“…Prior studies suggest that women from lower SES backgrounds have a lower ovarian reserve and an earlier age at menopause 8-18 . Few studies have considered whether SES at the neighborhood level may also impact the ovarian reserve 26,27 .…”

“…7 Prior studies show that women with lower individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) have a lower ovarian reserve and an earlier age at menopause. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] For example, in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, a large multiethnic sample of women, lower educational attainment and unemployment status were associated with earlier menopausal onset independent of race/ethnicity, smoking, use of oral contraceptives, parity, marital status, and history of heart disease. 18 In another study examining SES over the life course, women who were the most disadvantaged, defined as having 9 or 10 indicators of low SES over periods of childhood and adulthood, experienced menopause 1.7 years earlier than women who were the least disadvantaged, defined as having 0 or 1 indicator of low SES.…”

“…Prior studies show that women with lower individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) have a lower ovarian reserve and an earlier age at menopause 8-18 . For example, in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, a large multiethnic sample of women, lower educational attainment and unemployment status were associated with earlier menopausal onset independent of race/ethnicity, smoking, use of oral contraceptives, parity, marital status, and history of heart disease 18 .…”

Better alone? The impact of living arrangements on mortality of Costa Rican older adults

“…In addition, CRELES is a nationally representative study that conducts detailed analyses of the living conditions of the elderly, so it has sufficient sociodemographic and health variables to study mortality and its social determinants. As an example of this, it has been used in around 80 peer-reviewed papers to assess different health and mortality conditions of the old age population in Costa Rica (for example, BRENES-CAMACHO, 2018; ROSERO-BIXBY, 2018; NOVAK; LOZANO-KEYMOLEN, 2018).…”