Association between obesity and oligomenorrhea or irregular menstruation in Chinese women of childbearing age: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective

In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and oligomenorrhea or irregular menstruation in Chinese women of childbearing age.

Methods

A total of 1,423 Han women aged 19–39 years who were routinely examined at the Physical Examination Center of Peking University People's Hospital were enrolled by convenience sampling method. All participants were asked to fill up menstrual questionnaires. Binary logistic regression models were used to assess the odds ratio (OR) of different BMI, WC and WHR groups for the prevalence of oligomenorrhea and irregular menstruation. Moreover, we used the ROC curves to compare the predictive effects of BMI, WC and WHR on oligomenorrhea and irregular menstruation.

Results

Among the 1,423 participants, 93 women (6.5%) had BMI ≥ 30 kg/m², 6.5% of the participants had oligomenorrhea, and 22.6% had irregular menstrual menstruation. Overall, those with BMI ≥30 kg/m² (OR = 2.543; 95%CI 1.332–4.856; p = .005) or WC ≥ 90 cm (OR = 2.023; 95%CI 1.198–3.416; p = .008) were more likely to have long menstrual cycle. The prevalence of irregular menstruation was higher in the BMI ≥30 kg/m² (OR = 2.509; 95%CI 1.591–3.958; p < .001), WC ≥ 90 cm (OR = 2.299; 95%CI 1.619–3.265; p < .001) and WHR ≥ 0.86 (OR = 1.739; 95%CI 1.293–2.339; p < .001) groups. The ROC curve showed that all three anthropometric indices had predictive effect, while there was no significant difference in predicting oligomenorrhea. WC was a better predictor for irregular menstruation compared with BMI.

Conclusions

Obesity, oligomenorrhea and irregular menstruation were common in Chinese women of childbearing age, and obesity was associated with oligomenorrhea and irregular menstruation. Abdominal obesity might have a stronger predictive effect on irregular menstruation.

摘要

目的：本研究旨在调查中国育龄妇女的体重指数 (BMI), 腰围 (WC) 或腰臀比(WHR) 与月经稀发或月经不调之间的关系。

方法：通过便利抽样的方法, 共有1423名在北京大学人民医院体检中心接受常规检查的年龄在19∼39岁之间的汉族妇女加入这项研究。要求所有参与者填写月经问卷。采用二元逻辑回归模型分析不同BMI、WC和WHR组的月经稀发和月经不调的相对危险度 (OR)。此外, 我们还使用ROC曲线比较了BMI、WC和WHR对月经稀发和月经不调的预测作用。

结果：在1423名受试者中, BMI≥30 kg/m²的女性为93名 (6.5%), 月经稀发的女性为6.5%, 月经不调的女性为22.6%。总体而言, BMI≥30 kg/m²(OR=2.543；95%CI为1.332∼4.856；p=0.005)或WC≥90 cm(OR=2.023；95%CI为1.198∼3.416；p=0.008)的女性月经周期长的可能性更大。BMI≥30 kg/m²组(OR=2.509；95%CI 1.591∼3.958；p<0.001)、腰围≥90 cm(OR=2.299；95%CI 1.619∼3.265；p<0.001)和腰臀比≥0.86(OR=1.739；95%CI 1.293∼2.339；p<0.001)组月经不调的发生率较高。ROC曲线显示, 三项人体测量指标均有预测作用, 而预测月经稀发的差异无统计学意义。与BMI相比, WC更能够预测月经不调。

结论：肥胖、月经稀发、月经不调在中国育龄妇女中普遍存在, 肥胖与月经稀发、月经不调有关。腹部肥胖对月经不调可能有更强的预测作用。

Keywords:

• Menstrual disturbance
• obesity
• Chinese women of childbearing-age
• oligomenorrhea
• irregular menstruation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Peking University People’s Hospital [2015PHB087-01].