Odds of experiencing multimorbidity by age 60 and developing individual chronic conditions increased
FRIDAY, Jan. 31, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Premature menopause is associated with development of multimorbidity, according to a study published online Jan. 20 in Human Reproduction.
Xiaolin Xu, from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues conducted a prospective national study involving 11,258 Australian women, aged 45 to 50 years in 1996, who were followed to 2016. Approximately every three years, information about age at natural menopause and 11 chronic conditions were estimated; multimorbidity was defined as two or more of these conditions.
The researchers found that 2.3 percent of the 5,107 women reporting age at natural menopause experienced premature menopause (≤40 years) and 55.1 percent developed multimorbidity. Women with premature menopause had increased odds of experiencing multimorbidity by age 60 (odds ratio, 1.98) and developing multimorbidity in their 60s (odds ratio, 3.03) compared with those who experienced menopause at ages 50 to 51 years. Increased incidence of most individual chronic conditions was also seen among women with premature menopause.
“Our findings could inform health professionals to consider comprehensive screening and assessment of risk factors for increased risk of multimorbidity when treating women who experienced natural premature menopause,” the authors write. “Our findings also highlighted that multimorbidity should be considered as a clinical and public health priority for chronic conditions control and prevention in women’s health.”
Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
