Factors that influence natural menopause onset in China: a cross-sectional study

Abstract BackgroundThis paper aimed to explore the average natural menopause age, the span of menopausal age, and the related factors that will probably affect the natural menopause age of Chinese women. MethodsA large-scale random sampling of menopausal women aged 32-75 years in 18 provinces or municipalities throughout China was conducted using paper questionnaire surveys to investigate the menopause age, menarche age, fertility status, illness history, and living habits. The SPSS 24.0 software package was used to carry out t test, chi-square test, logistic regression, and other statistical analyses. ResultsA total of 5852 questionnaires were collected. After excluding questionnaires having no menopause, questionnaires with incomplete or invalid information, and questionnaires that may directly affect the age of menopause, such as hysterectomy, oophorectomy, and other factors that may affect natural menopause, a total of 4426 effective questionnaires have been collected, and the average age of natural menopause was 49.49 ± 3.67 years old. ConclusionFactors that may affect the age of natural menopause are weight, menarche age, marital status, drinking tea or not (often and daily), eating supplements, oral contraceptive contraception, and safe contraception.