Cohort study, 2021
Does when you start puberty affect your risk of premenstrual disorders as an adult?
Women who started menstruating later had lower risk of premenstrual disorders in adulthood. Women who had early pubic hair growth had higher risk of premenstrual disorders.
What they did
6495 girls were followed from 1996 to 2013 as part of the Growing Up Today Study. Researchers tracked when they entered puberty using self-reported age at first period and measures of breast and pubic hair development. In 2013, when girls were around age 26, they answered questions about premenstrual symptoms.
What they found
By 2013, 15.4% of women met criteria for a premenstrual disorder. Women whose menstruation started later had lower risk of premenstrual disorders and fewer symptoms. Women with early pubic hair growth had higher risk of premenstrual disorders and more symptoms. Breast development timing was not linked to premenstrual disorder risk.
What it means for you
The age you start puberty appears linked to whether you develop premenstrual disorders as an adult. Starting menstruation later was protective, and early pubic hair growth increased risk. However, this is an observational study, not a controlled experiment, so we cannot say that puberty timing causes premenstrual disorders. Some women may have misremembered when they started menstruating.
6495
Girls in study
15.4%
Who developed premenstrual disorder by age 26
1.28
Increased risk with early pubic hair growth
About the study
- Original title
- Pubertal development and risk of premenstrual disorders in young adulthood
- Authors
- Lu D, Aleknaviciute J, Bjarnason R et al.
- Journal
- Human reproduction (Oxford, England)
- Year
- 2021
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 6,495
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deaa309
Topics
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