Abstract
Objectives
To examine the association between early menarche and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
Methods
Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2012 were used to investigate the association between age at menarche and the risk of GDM at first birth among 5914 women. A growth mixture model was used to detect distinctive menarche onset patterns based on self-reported age at menarche. Logistic regression models were then used to examine the associations between menarche initiation patterns and GDM after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, family history of diabetes mellitus, lifetime greatest Body Mass Index, smoking status, and physical activity level.
Results
Among the 5914 first-time mothers, 3.4 % had self-reported GDM. We detected three groups with heterogeneous menarche onset patterns, the Early, Normal, and Late Menarche Groups. The regression model shows that compared to the Normal Menarche Group, the Early Menarche Group had 1.75 (95 % CI 1.10, 2.79) times the odds of having GDM. No statistically significant difference was observed between the Normal and the Late Menarche Group.
Conclusion
This study suggests that early menarche may be a risk factor of GDM. Future studies are warranted to examine and confirm this finding.
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Acknowledgments
YS, HH, and XX conceived and designed the study. YS and HH analyzed the data. YS, HH, BT, HK, and XX wrote the manuscript. There are no funding support for this study. There are no financial or professional conflicts of interest to disclose.
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Shen, Y., Hu, H., D. Taylor, B. et al. Early Menarche and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus at First Live Birth. Matern Child Health J 21, 593–598 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2143-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2143-5