Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Introduction
Menopause is known to be associated with myocardial infarction (MI). However, the association between menopause age and MI onset in a nationally representative population remains unknown.
Objective
To examine the correlation between age of menopause and age of MI onset in the general population and the association between early menopause (onset of menopause ≤ 40 years old) and early onset of MI (onset of MI ≤ 40 years old).
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted using a population from the 2017-2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The questionnaire collected self-reported data on the participants' menopause age and their age of first MI. The relationship between these two parameters was analyzed by multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses. Multivariate analysis was adjusted for race, age, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, and dyslipidemia status.
Results
Among 2,200 postmenopausal females, 90 (4.1%) have had MI. The study involved 85 postmenopausal females who reported both menopause age and MI onset, with a mean ± SD age of 55 ± 13 years. This study found a significant association between menopause age and MI onset. After adjusting for confounders, it was found that every 1-year increase in the age of menopause will delay the onset of MI by 0.28 years, with a 95% CI of 0.013 to 0.552 (Table 1A, Graph 1A, Graph 1B).
Additionally, early menopause carries an almost significantly increased risk of 2.11 times (95% CI: 1.00, 4.45) for early-onset MI. After adjusting for confounders, the magnitude of the association was lower and not statistically significant, but the direction remains (OR (95% CI): 2.08 (0.87, 4.95)). However, after stratification with comorbidities, DM status was identified as an effect modifier, with early MI significantly observed in patients with DM in both univariate and multivariate analyses, with OR (95% CI) of 3.03 (1.10, 8.37) and 4.88 (1.26, 18.96), respectively (Table 2A).
Conclusion
This study demonstrated a positive association between menopause age and MI onset in a generally representative population. This suggests that prolonged estrogen exposure due to late menopause may delay the onset of MI. Additionally, early menopause was associated with early MI onset in the DM population. Further longitudinal studies are required to examine the potential mechanisms involved in menopause onset and MI onset.