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. 2024 Jun 4:15:1399984.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1399984. eCollection 2024.

Temporal trend of age at menarche in Korean females born between 1927 and 2004: a population-based study

Da Hye Lee  1 , Jaehyun Kim  2   3 , Hwa Young Kim  2   3
Affiliations

Temporal trend of age at menarche in Korean females born between 1927 and 2004: a population-based study

Da Hye Lee et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Backgrounds: The age at menarche has decreased worldwide. Previous studies on Korean adolescents have reported a downward trend in age at menarche. This study aimed to investigate the current trends in age at menarche among Korean adolescents using nationally representative data.

Materials and methods: The study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2021. A total of 50,730 females born between 1927 and 2004 with information on age at menarche were included. The trend in age at menarche was analyzed according to 15 birth-year groups (with 5-year intervals) using quantile regression analysis.

Results: The mean age at menarche decreased from 16.92 ± 0.06 years for females born before 1935 to 12.45 ± 0.04 years for females born between 2000 and 2004 (p <.001). According to the percentile group of age at menarche, mean menarche age decreased by -0.071 years per year (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.072 to -0.070) in total, -0.050 years per year (95% CI, -0.052 to -0.048) in the 3rd percentile group, -0.088 years per year (95% CI, -0.091 to -0.085) in the 97th percentile group (p <.001 for all). A decreasing trend of age at menarche was more prominent in the obesity group (-0.080 years per year, 95% CI, -0.082 to -0.078) compared to the non-obesity group (-0.069 years per year, 95% CI, -0.071 to -0.068) (p <.001 for both).

Conclusion: Ongoing downward trend in age at menarche was observed in Korean females born until 2004, decreasing by 0.71 years per decade. The downward trend was faster in individuals with a higher percentile of age at menarche and in those with obesity.

Keywords: Korea; adolescent; age at menarche; epidemiology; obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Secular trends in age at menarche according to birth-year. Points indicate the mean age at menarche per birth-year, with trend lines derived using quadratic regression. The gray area indicates the 95% confidence interval. (A) Across the total population, (B) by obesity status.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cumulative proportion and distribution of age at menarche by birth-year. (A) The cumulative proportion of reaching menarche at each birth-year, (B) the distribution of age at menarche.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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