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.

中文翻译：

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美国三个纵向队列的性取向和初潮年龄

目的

这项研究的目的是检查不同性取向群体的初潮年龄。

方法

数据来自 1947 年至 2001 年出生的 131,090 名女性参与者，涉及 3 项纵向研究——今日成长研究和护士健康研究 2 和 3。我们使用针对年龄调整的回归模型估计了性取向与月经初潮年龄之间的关联，种族/民族、出生体重、身高和体重指数。

结果

与异性恋参与者相比，性少数群体的月经初潮更年轻。与异性恋女孩相比，性少数群体初潮早（≤11 岁）的可能性更大，初潮晚（≥14 岁）的可能性更小。作为这种模式的一个例子，护士健康研究 3 双性恋参与者比异性恋者有 30% 以上的可能性比平均初潮早（优势比 1.37，95% 置信区间 1.09–1.72）。

结论

与异性恋女孩相比，性少数女孩的初潮年龄更小，并且可能受益于筛查与初潮早相关的不良后果。