Age at menarche: a predictor of diminished ovarian function?

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether age at menarche is associated with functional ovarian reserve (FOR) later in life. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Fertility center. PATIENT(S) Five hundred and two infertile women. INTERVENTION(S) None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Levels of menarcheal age, antimüllerian hormone (AMH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and functional ovarian reserve. RESULT(S) The mean age of the patients was 38.9 ± 4.9 years, and their mean level of AMH was 1.4 ± 2.0 ng/mL and of FSH was 10.7 ± 6.1 mIU/mL. Their current age-specific diminished functional ovarian reserve (DFOR) was statistically significantly associated with early menarche, defined as age <13 years. Logistic regression analysis, adjusting for race, affirmed the higher likelihood of early age at menarche in infertile patients with DFOR. When women with DFOR were grouped into quartiles, early menarche (<25th percentile) was associated with statistically significantly higher DFOR risk than late menarche (>75th percentile). CONCLUSION(S) This study demonstrates a statistically significant impact of age at menarche on DFOR risk later in life among infertile women. The occurrence of menarche may relate to follicular pool size and/or speed of follicle recruitment, which in turn is predictive of occurrence of DFOR later in life.