BACKGROUND Previous research suggests that alcohol consumption is associated with high age at menopause. Yet, knowledge about the dose-response relationship is inconsistent. Thus, we studied the pattern of the association of pre-menopausal alcohol consumption with age at natural menopause. METHODS We performed a retrospective population-based study using self-reported data from 280 497 women aged 50-69 years attending the Norwegian breast cancer screening programme (BreastScreen Norway) during 2006-15. Associations of weekly alcohol consumption between the age of 20 and 49 years with age at menopause were estimated as hazard ratios (HRs) using Cox proportional hazard models with restricted cubic splines to allow for non-linear associations. We adjusted for year and place of birth, number of childbirths, educational level, body mass index and smoking habits. RESULTS Mean age at natural menopause was 51.20 years (interquartile range: 49-54 years). The adjusted HR of reaching menopause was highest for women with no alcohol consumption (reference) and the HR decreased by alcohol consumption up to 50 grams per week (adjusted HR 0.87; 95% CI: 0.86-0.88). Above 50 grams, there was no further decrease in the HR of reaching menopause (P for non-linearity of <0.001). CONCLUSIONS Women who did not consume alcohol were youngest at menopause. The lack of a dose-response association among alcohol consumers implies virtually no relation of alcohol consumption with age at menopause. Our findings may suggest that characteristics of the women who did not consume alcohol, not accounted for in the data analyses, explain their younger age at menopause.

中文翻译：

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绝经前饮酒量与绝经年龄的剂量反应关系：一项针对挪威 280 497 名女性的人口研究。

背景技术先前的研究表明，饮酒与高绝经期有关。然而，关于剂量反应关系的知识并不一致。因此，我们研究了绝经前饮酒量与自然绝经年龄的关联模式。方法 我们使用 2006-15 年间参加挪威乳腺癌筛查计划 (BreastScreen Bulgaria) 的 280 497 名 50-69 岁女性的自我报告数据进行了一项基于人群的回顾性研究。使用 Cox 比例风险模型和限制三次样条以允许非线性关联，将 20 至 49 岁之间每周饮酒量与绝经年龄的关联估计为风险比 (HR)。我们对出生年份和地点、分娩次数、教育水平、体重指数和吸烟习惯进行了调整。结果 自然绝经的平均年龄为 51.20 岁（四分位数范围：49-54 岁）。对于不饮酒的女性（参考），到达更年期的调整后 HR 最高，每周饮酒量达到 50 克时，HR 会降低（调整后 HR 0.87；95% CI：0.86-0.88）。超过 50 克，到达更年期的 HR 没有进一步下降（非线性 P <0.001）。结论 不饮酒的女性绝经时间最年轻。饮酒者之间缺乏剂量反应关联意味着饮酒量与绝经年龄实际上没有关系。我们的研究结果可能表明，数据分析中未考虑到的不饮酒女性的特征解释了她们更年期的年龄较轻。