Marital status and age at natural menopause: Considering pheromonal influence

Abstract

Married women generally report a later mean age at menopause. The results reported here, from a study carried out in Greene County, New York, are no exception. Married and widowed women report a later mean age at natural menopause compared to single and divorced women (P < 0.05). To better understand the relationship between marital status and age at menopause, possible mechanistic and confounding variables are examined, in particular parity, sexual activity, smoking habits, level of education, and income. Parity and income 10 years prior to interview are significant factors, along with marital status, that explain part of the variation in age at natural menopause. An alternative explanation is the pheromonal influence of a male in the household. This would explain the consistency of results across populations. This pilot study supports further biochemical investigation.

Age at menopause and factors associated with attainment of menopause in an urban community in Ibadan, Nigeria

“…Our findings from this study agree with previous researchers who have used different methodologies and studied different populations but arrived at similar conclusions, that married women generally attain menopause later when compared with never married or divorced women 9,18,[46][47][48] . It has been suggested that the effect of marriage on the attainment of menopause may be explained by biobehavioral factors such as sexual activity, parity and smoking habits, or even the pheromonal influence of the continued presence of a male in the household 46 .…”

“…However, other researchers say there is no relationship between mean age at menopause and level of education of the respondent 46 . Although the mechanism was not explored in this study, it is in fact possible for factors such as level of education and marital status to predict attainment of menopause among these women through their indirect influence on the recall and/or perception of menopause.…”

“…It has been suggested that the effect of marriage on the attainment of menopause may be explained by biobehavioral factors such as sexual activity, parity and smoking habits, or even the pheromonal influence of the continued presence of a male in the household 46 . Interestingly, anecdotal reports from Yorubas residing in Ibadan, Nigeria indicate that women from this ethnic group believe that a woman who is a widow or is no longer living with a man will stop menstruating earlier than one who continues to live with a man and engage in sexual activity in middle age.…”

Age at menarche and parity are independently associated with Anti‐Müllerian hormone, a marker of ovarian reserve, in filipino young adult women

“…Although many studies have reported associations between various socio-demographic, reproductive, or developmental factors and menopausal timing (for a general review, see Leidy Sievert, 2006), only a few are consistent predictors (reproductive characteristics, such as parity: Harlow and Signorello, 2000; marital status: Leidy Sievert et al, 2001;smoking: Parente et al, 2008). The inconsistency that characterizes many other associations may stem at least in part from methodological issues (Canavez et al, 2011;Harlow and Signorello, 2000), as accurate assessment of menopausal age can be difficult (Leidy Sievert, 2006;Leidy Sievert and Hautaniemi, 2003;Wood, 1994).…”

Life course effects on age at menopause among Bangladeshi sedentees and migrants to the UK

“…In addition to variables that reflect childhood conditions, other factors associated with age at menopause that should be considered across the life course include parity (Cramer et al 1995;Gold et al 2001), cycle length (Kaczmarek and Szwed 2001;Whelan et al 1990), marital status (Sievert et al 2001); tobacco use (Cramer et al 1995;Gold et al 2001;Morris et al 2012;Reynolds and Obermeyer 2005), levels of education and socioeconomic status (Luoto et al 1994;Gold et al 2001;Mishra et al 2010;Shinberg 1998;Sievert and Hautaniemi 2003).…”