Sexual Orientation and Age at Menarche in Three U.S. Longitudinal Cohorts

Brittany M. Charlton, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: bcharlton@mail.harvard.edu.
Jenny L. Carwile, Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Portland, Maine.
Jorge E. Chavarro, Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Amy D. DiVasta, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Najat J. Ziyadeh, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
S Bryn Austin, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Journal Title

The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine

MeSH Headings

Bisexuality; Female; Heterosexuality; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Menarche; Sexual Behavior; Sexual and Gender Minorities

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to examine age at menarche across sexual orientation groups. METHODS: Data were obtained from 131,090 female participants, born 1947-2001, in 3 longitudinal studies-the Growing Up Today Study and Nurses' Health Study 2 and 3. We estimated the association between sexual orientation and age at menarche using regression models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, birthweight, height, and body mass index. RESULTS: Compared to heterosexual participants, sexual minorities were younger at menarche. Sexual minorities were more likely to have early menarche (≤11 years) and less likely to have late menarche (≥14 years) compared to heterosexual girls. As an example of this pattern, Nurses' Health Study 3 bisexual participants were >30% more likely than heterosexuals to have early versus average menarche (odds ratio 1.37, 95% confidence interval 1.09-1.72). CONCLUSION: Sexual minority girls have a younger age at menarche than heterosexual girls and may benefit from screening for adverse outcomes associated with early menarche.

First Page

163

Last Page

166

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