Type 2 diabetes in younger women associated with early menopause

Type 2 diabetes is associated with early menopause in women younger than 45 years, a new study found.

In a cross-sectional study in 11 Latin American countries, 6,079 women between ages 40 and 59 years who accompanied patients to medical centers agreed to complete a questionnaire. Data were collected on age, educational level, menopausal status, years of postmenopause, surgical menopause, marital/partner status, and various lifestyle factors such as smoking and exercise. The women also completed the Menopause Rating Scale, which assesses the presence and intensity of 11 symptoms.

Seven percent (n=410) of women were diabetic; the mean age of all women was 49.7 years. Fifty-eight percent of women were postmenopausal. Women with diabetes had a lower average age of menopause (48.4 vs. 50.1 years). In women age 40 to 44 years, having diabetes was associated with nearly 3 times the odds of being postmenopausal compared with not having diabetes (29.5% vs 13.2%; odds ratio, 2.76; 95% CI, 1.32 to 5.67). This relationship remained after adjustment for confounding variables.

In women age 45 years or older, however, having diabetes wasn't associated with a greater risk of being postmenopausal. In all women, being menopausal also didn't increase the risk of diabetes. Diabetic women were at higher risk of reduced quality of life; however, this risk disappeared with adjustments for variables like obesity, hypertension and age. The study was published in the December 2013 Climacteric.

There may be a subgroup of women with diabetes “in whom the metabolic disorders of the disease will accelerate reproductive aging, and they will therefore experience an early menopause,” the authors wrote. Study limitations include its cross-sectional nature and its generalizability to non-Hispanic women.