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Follicle-stimulating hormone in postmenopausal women living with HIV: a prevalence study

Tariq, S; Okhai, H; Severn, A; Sabin, CA; Burns, F; Gilson, R; Fox, J; ... Miller, RF; + view all (2022) Follicle-stimulating hormone in postmenopausal women living with HIV: a prevalence study. HIV Medicine , 23 (4) pp. 434-440. 10.1111/hiv.13205. Green open access

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We examined follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels in women living with HIV aged > 45 reporting ≥ 12 months' amenorrhoea, and investigated correlation with menopausal symptoms. METHODS: A cross-sectional substudy of 85 women from the Positive Transitions through the Menopause (PRIME) Study who reported irregular periods at entry into the PRIME Study and ≥ 12 months' amenorrhoea at recruitment into this substudy. Serum FSH was supplemented with clinical data and menopausal symptom assessment. Serum FSH > 30 mIU/mL was defined as consistent with postmenopausal status. Associations between FSH and menopausal symptom severity were assessed using Pearson's correlation and the Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: Median age was 53 years [interquartile range (IQR): 51-55]; all were on antiretroviral therapy, three-quarters (n = 65) had a CD4 T-cell count > 500 cells/μL and 91.8% (n = 78) had an HIV viral load (VL) < 50 copies/mL. Median FSH was 65.9 mIU/mL (IQR: 49.1-78.6). Only four women (4.7%) had FSH ≤ 30 mIU/mL; none reported smoking or drug use, all had CD4 T-cell count ≥ 200 cells/μL, and one had viral load (VL) ≥ 50 copies/mL. Median body mass index (BMI) was elevated compared with women with FSH > 30 mIU/mL (40.8 vs. 30.5 kg/m2 ). Over a quarter (28.2%) reported severe menopausal symptoms, with no correlation between FSH and severity of menopausal symptoms (p = 0.21), or hot flushes (p = 0.37). CONCLUSIONS: Four women in this small substudy had low FSH despite being amenorrhoeic; all had BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 . We found that 95% of women with HIV aged > 45 years reporting ≥ 12 months' amenorrhoea had elevated FSH, suggesting that menopausal status can be ascertained from menstrual history alone in this group.

Type: Article
Title: Follicle-stimulating hormone in postmenopausal women living with HIV: a prevalence study
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/hiv.13205
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1111/hiv.13205
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 The Authors. HIV Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British HIV Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: HIV, ageing, follicle-stimulating hormone, menopause, women
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10138955
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