Anderson, DJ;
Chung, H-F;
Seib, CA;
Dobson, AJ;
Kuh, D;
Brunner, EJ;
Crawford, SL;
... Mishra, GD; + view all
(2020)
Obesity, smoking, and risk of vasomotor menopausal symptoms: a pooled analysis of eight cohort studies.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
, 222
(5)
478.e1-478.e17.
10.1016/j.ajog.2019.10.103.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Frequent and severe vasomotor symptoms during menopause are linked with adverse health outcomes. Understanding modifiable lifestyle factors for the risk of vasomotor menopausal symptoms is important to guide preventive strategies. OBJECTIVE We investigated the associations between body mass index and smoking, and their joint effects with the risk of vasomotor symptoms, and whether the associations differed by menopausal stage. STUDY DESIGN The International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events pooled data on 21,460 midlife women from eight studies (median age 50 years, interquartile range 49–51 years) for the cross-sectional analysis. Four studies provided data for the prospective analysis (n=11,986). Multinomial logistic regression models with four categories of frequency/severity for the outcome of vasomotor symptoms were used to estimate relative risk ratios (RRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for within-study correlation and covariates. RESULTS At baseline, nearly 60% of the women experienced vasomotor symptoms. Half of them were overweight (30%) or obese (21%), and 17% were current smokers. Cross-sectional analyses showed that a higher body mass index and smoking more cigarettes with longer duration and earlier initiation were all associated with more frequent or severe vasomotor symptoms. Never smokers who were obese had a 1.5-fold (RRR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.35–1.73) higher risk of often/severe vasomotor symptoms, compared with never smokers who were of normal-weight. Smoking strengthened the association as the risk of often/severe vasomotor symptoms was much greater among smokers who were obese (RRR, 3.02; 95% CI, 2.41–3.78). However, smokers who quit before 40 years of age were at similar levels of risk as never smokers. Prospective analyses showed a similar pattern, but the association attenuated markedly after adjustment for baseline vasomotor symptoms. Furthermore, we found that the association between body mass index and vasomotor symptoms differed by menopausal status. Higher body mass index was associated with increased risk of vasomotor symptoms in pre- and perimenopause but with reduced risk in postmenopause. CONCLUSION High body mass index (≥25 kg/m2) and cigarette smoking substantially increased women’s risk for experiencing frequent or severe vasomotor symptoms in a dose-response manner, and smoking intensified the effect of obesity. However, the effect of body mass index on the risk vasomotor symptoms was opposite among postmenopausal women. Maintaining a normal weight before the menopausal transition and quitting smoking before age 40 years may mitigate the excess risk of VMS in midlife.
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