Objective: To investigate whether age at menarche is associated with functional ovarian reserve (FOR) later in life.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Fertility center.
Patient(s): Five hundred and two infertile women.
Intervention(s): None.
Main outcome measure(s): Levels of menarcheal age, antimüllerian hormone (AMH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and functional ovarian reserve.
Result(s): The mean age of the patients was 38.9 ± 4.9 years, and their mean level of AMH was 1.4 ± 2.0 ng/mL and of FSH was 10.7 ± 6.1 mIU/mL. Their current age-specific diminished functional ovarian reserve (DFOR) was statistically significantly associated with early menarche, defined as age <13 years. Logistic regression analysis, adjusting for race, affirmed the higher likelihood of early age at menarche in infertile patients with DFOR. When women with DFOR were grouped into quartiles, early menarche (<25th percentile) was associated with statistically significantly higher DFOR risk than late menarche (>75th percentile).
Conclusion(s): This study demonstrates a statistically significant impact of age at menarche on DFOR risk later in life among infertile women. The occurrence of menarche may relate to follicular pool size and/or speed of follicle recruitment, which in turn is predictive of occurrence of DFOR later in life.
Keywords: Antimüllerian hormone (AMH); diminished functional ovarian reserve; follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH); menarche; ovarian function.
Copyright © 2013 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.