Relationship between age at last delivery and age at menopause: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

OBJECTIVE We used data from the 2010 to 2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to investigate whether the age at menopause is related to age at last delivery. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study of the data for 714 women who became menopausal within the 3 years preceding the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. RESULTS Smoking, exercise, drink, educational level, and income were adjusted in model 1, and the mean ages at menopause were 50.5±0.3, 51.2±0.2, 51.2±0.3, and 50.2±0.4 years for women with <25, ≥25 and <30, ≥30 and <35, ≥35 years age at last delivery, respectively (P=0.049). Smoking, exercise, drink, educational level, income, age at first delivery, age at last delivery, and gravidity were adjusted in model 2, and the respective mean ages at menopause were 50.5±0.5, 50.7±0.4, 50.3±0.4, and 49.2±0.5 years (P=0.03). In both models, older age at last delivery showed higher age at menopause compared with women with younger age at last delivery. CONCLUSION Korean women with older age at last delivery were associated with younger age at menopause. Increased number of pregnancies was related to older age at menopause.