모유 수유 기간과 폐경 연령 및 월경 기간과의 연관성: 2016–2018년 국민건강영양조사 분석

초록

Background: The association between lifetime breastfeeding duration and menopause age remains unclear. Therefore, this study investigated the menopause age and menstrual period according to lifetime breastfeeding duration in postmenopausal women using nationally representative survey data from Korea. Methods: This study included 4,318 women with natural menopause who had participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2016–2018. Women with non-natural menopause, no history of breastfeeding, and significant missing variables were excluded. The lifetime breastfeeding duration was divided into 1–6 months, 6–12 months, 12–18 months, and ≥18 months. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the association. Results: A statistically significant correlation was observed between lifetime breastfeeding duration and menopause age. In all models, as the breastfeeding duration increased, menopause age tended to rise significantly (P<0.01; P for trend <0.0001), as did menstrual period (P for trend <0.05). Conclusion: Menopause age and the menopausal age and menstrual period increased significantly with an increase in the lifetime breastfeeding duration. Our findings suggest that the duration of breastfeeding is positively correlated with the time of exposure to endogenous estrogens. Therefore, breastfeeding may delay the onset of menopause.

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