Pulse pressure and age at menopause

• Main Authors: Eigenbrodt Marsha (Author), Sharrett A Richey (Author), Luoto Riitta (Author), Arnett Donna (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2002-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective of this study was to study the association of early age at menopause with pulse pressure (PP), a marker of arterial stiffness, and PP change.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The effect of natural menopause was studied in 2484 women from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study who had not used hormone replacement therapy and who had not had a hysterectomy. The cross-sectional association of age with PP was evaluated in the entire cohort. The cross-sectional association of recalled age at menopause was evaluated in the 1688 women who were postmenopausal at baseline. PP change over 6 years was assessed in relation to menopausal age separately in women who were postmenopausal at baseline and in those whose menopause occurred during the 6-year interval.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Chronological age was strongly and positively associated with PP in cross-sectional analyses, but not independently associated with PP change. While menopausal age was not associated cross-sectionally with PP, early age at menopause (age<45) was significantly and independently associated with a slightly larger increase in PP (8.4, 95% CI 7.0-9.8) than later menopause (6.5, 95% CI 5.8;7.2). However, among normotensive women the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.07, 6.1 vs 4.7).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Early age at menopause may be related to a greater increase in arterial stiffness, but the effect appears to be small and further evidence is needed.</p>

Item Description

10.1186/1472-6874-2-6
1472-6874