Premium
Marital status and age at natural menopause: Considering pheromonal influence
Author(s) -
Leidy Sievert Lynnette,
Waddle Diane,
Canali Kristophor
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.1079
Subject(s) - menopause , demography , parity (physics) , confounding , marital status , fertility , natural fertility , medicine , gerontology , psychology , population , family planning , endocrinology , sociology , research methodology , physics , particle physics
Married women generally report a later mean age at menopause. The results reported here, from a study carried out in Greene County, New York, are no exception. Married and widowed women report a later mean age at natural menopause compared to single and divorced women ( P < 0.05). To better understand the relationship between marital status and age at menopause, possible mechanistic and confounding variables are examined, in particular parity, sexual activity, smoking habits, level of education, and income. Parity and income 10 years prior to interview are significant factors, along with marital status, that explain part of the variation in age at natural menopause. An alternative explanation is the pheromonal influence of a male in the household. This would explain the consistency of results across populations. This pilot study supports further biochemical investigation. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 13:479–485, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.