Asthma diagnosis and treatmentMenstrual irregularity and asthma and lung function
Section snippets
Study design
This study is a cross-sectional analysis of the ECRHS II. ECRHS I29 was an international survey performed from 1991 to 1992 in randomly selected individuals from the general populations within administrative boundaries of 36 centers in 16 countries. A random sample and a smaller symptomatic sample were invited to a follow-up study, ECRHS II,30 which took place from 1998 to 2002. The examinations performed at both surveys included an interviewer-led questionnaire and measurements of lung
Results
Of 1631 women age 28 to 44 years participating in the study, 313 (19 %) reported having irregular menstrual cycles and/or cycles longer than 32 days. The prevalence of IM varied between 28% in Basel and 7.1% in Bergen (Table I). The median BMI varied from 21.2 kg/m2 in Montpellier to 26 kg/m2 in Portland.
Women with IM were slightly younger and less educated than the controls, and had about the same median BMI (Table II). Women with IMs did not differ significantly from the controls regarding
Discussion
In this cross-sectional analysis of a multinational population, women reporting long or irregular menstrual cycles had significantly lower FVC and more asthma, particularly allergic asthma. These associations were not modified by BMI or physical activity. On the other hand, FVC was lower in women with oligomenorrhea at any level of BMI, and asthma was more common in women with oligomenorrhea at any level of BMI or physical activity. The associations were consistent across centers, and remained
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F.G.R. was supported exclusively by the Norwegian Research Council (grant NFR 161299/V50). ECRHS II was supported by the European Commission as part of their Quality of Life program. Bodies funding the local studies in ECRHS II are listed in this article's Online Repository at www.jacionline.org.
Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: The authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.