Abstract

Study objective: To investigate of the extent to which violence over the life course accelerates the onset of perimenopause, as measured by menstrual changes.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts.

Participants: 603 premenopausal women aged 36–45 years at baseline who completed a cross sectional survey on childhood and adult violence history.

Main outcome measure: Time to perimenopause, defined as time in months from baseline interview to a woman’s report of (1) an absolute change of at least seven days in menstrual cycle length from baseline or subjective report of menstrual irregularity; (2) a change in menstrual flow amount or duration; or (3) cessation of periods for at least three months, whichever came first.

Main results: Experience of abuse was associated with delayed onset of menstrual changes indicative of onset of perimenopause. Women reporting childhood or adolescent abuse entered perimenopause about 35% slower than women who reported no abuse (IRR_adj = 0.65, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.95) after adjusting for age, age at menarche, ever live birth, ability to maintain living standard, smoking, BMI, and depression. There was a similar association among women who reported first abuse during adulthood (IRR_adj = 0.72, 95% CI 0.28 to 1.80). These findings persisted when the cohort was restricted to non-depressed women (childhood/adolescent IRR_adj = 0.57, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.90; adulthood IRR_adj = 0.63, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.77).

Conclusions: This study is the first longitudinal analysis of the timing of perimenopause to show an association with a history of physical or sexual abuse. Further study of the relation between violence and reproductive aging is needed.