Risk Factors of Early Menopause: A Descriptive Study

Menopause is an inevitable physical change experienced by women during the aging process. As the production of female hormones decreases and ovulation stops alongside the aging of the ovaries, regular menstruation disappears. Although menopause itself is not a pathological condition, menopausal transition is accompanied by negative physical changes. With the increase in life expectancy, the proportion of postmenopausal life also increases. Thus, the impact of menopause on women’s health has become more significant from both clinical and health perspectives. This study was conducted to identify the risk factors associated with early menopause in women in Tripoli. This was a retrospective case series study; it was conducted in Aljala maternity hospital, Tripoli, Libya, during the year 2017. Three hundred and thirty women who were diagnosed as cases of early menopause were randomly selected from the hospital files and from interviews with the women who attend the gynecology clinic. The following data were obtained from the files and the women: the age of menarche, menstrual cycle, marital state, education level, working status, smoking, parity, history of oral contraceptive, BMI, and history of pelvic surgery. Regarding the age of menarche, the mean age of menarche was 12 ± 1.14 years. The majority of the women had their menarche at age below 13 years (70.3%). Most of the women in the study had regular menstrual cycles (85.5%). Most of the women were educated, not working, and married. The current study showed that about 26% of the women who had early menopause had a history of passive smoking. Regarding the obstetric history, most of the women were multiparous, and most of them did not use contraceptive pills. The study concluded that the majority of the women who had early menopause had menarche at an early age, had regular cycles, were married, educated, not working, multiparous, and did not use oral contraceptives. Other factors, such as smoking, BMI, and history of pelvic surgery, showed lower percentages