Introduction Prevalence of asthma is higher in boys during childhood but in women in adulthood. Recent studies point to the role of hormones in explaining these gender-age differences but often single markers of hormone levels have been assessed. The aim of this study is to investigate the association of history of asthma in young adulthood with different hormone markers during adolescence.

Methods Historical cohort of students (11 274 men and 3502 women) attending Glasgow University between 1948 and 1968, that participated to a health survey. Medical history of asthma, eczema/urticaria and hay fever were collected. Age of menarche, duration and regularity of menstruation and acne were also recorded.

Results Among women, older age of menarche (1-year increase) was associated with atopic asthma (asthma with eczema/urticaria or hay fever) (OR=1.39, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.85). Irregular menstrual cycle was associated with atopic asthma (OR=2.68, 95% CI 1.28 to 5.61) and atopy (eczema /urticaria or hay fever) (OR=1.39, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.83) but not with non-atopic asthma (OR=0.86, 95% CI 0.36 to 2.05). Acne was not robustly associated with atopic (OR=0.32, 95% CI 0.08 to 1.32) or non-atopic (OR=0.78, 0.33 to 1.86) asthma. Among men, those with acne had lower risk of eczema/urticaria alone (OR=0.44, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.68) but some evidence of higher risk of hay fever alone (OR=1.23, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.53).

Conclusion Age of menarche and irregular menstruation were associated with higher risk of atopic asthma and atopy in women whereas acne was associated with lower risk of eczema/urticaria among male students.