A Correlational Study between the Age at Menarche and Age at Menopause of Women in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Menarche (the onset of menstrual bleeding) and menopause (the cessation of menstruation) are important events in the reproductive history of women. They mark the beginning and end of the reproduction period of women. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age at menarche and age at menopause among women in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Methodology: A cross-sectional correlational study design was employed. A total of 402 women were purposively selected for this study. However, only 191 women reported their age at menopause and were used in the analysis. Data were collected using structured questionnaires that obtained information on age, age at menarche, age at menopause, and parity. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the data. Inferentially; pearson correlation and chi-square test were used to determine associations between variables, with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: The mean age of participants was 47.76 ± 7.79 years. The mean age at menarche was 14.22 ± 2.19 years, while the mean age at menopause among 191 menopausal women was 45.63 ± 5.55 years. Most participants experienced normal menarche (53.0%) and normal menopause (66.0%). Multiparous women constituted the largest parity group (55.4%). The association between age at menarche and age at menopause was not statistically significant (χ² = 8.060, p = 0.089). However, age at menarche was significantly associated with parity (χ² = 18.329, p = 0.001), and parity also showed a significant association with age at menopause (χ² = 9.873, p = 0.043). Conclusion: The findings indicate that age at menarche is not significantly related to age at menopause among the study population. However, parity appears to influence both reproductive milestones, suggesting that reproductive history may play a role in determining menopausal timing.