Untimely Menopause, State Wise Prevalence and Determinants: Insights from Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-1)

BACKGROUND: Untimely menopause refers to occurrence of menopause before the age of 40 years or after 55 years, termed as pre-mature or delayed menopause. This is a secondary data analysis of LASI-1 to estimate prevalence of untimely menopause and its determinants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: LASI-1, a longitudinal study collected detailed information on the psychological, social, economic and health aspects of ageing in India. Baseline data was collected from year 2017-2019 in all 35 states and union territories in India. 73,396 adults were interviewed aged 45 years and above. In this study, we analysed prevalence of untimely menopause and its determinants from the data using bivariate and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In this study, 25,256 women's data was analysed to estimate the prevalence. 7.4%, 17.5% and 13.4% women had pre-mature (menopause less than 40 years), early (between 40 and 44 years) and delayed menopause (after 55 years), more so in a few southern states of the country. Determinants for untimely menopause were area of residence (higher in rural area), education status (greater in higher educational status), working status (more in currently working women), and consumption of alcohol. CONCLUSION: There is high prevalence of untimely menopause and more so in a few southern states of the country, which is a cause of concern and needs specific attention.