Kim Joyce Mary, Shah Surabhi, Min Jieun, Jeong Kyungah, Ha Eun-Hee
Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Apr 16;25(1):1437. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-21604-y.
Ambient air pollution is a serious public health issue that may influence reproductive health, including fertility and menopause onset in women worldwide. Thus, understanding the risk factors associated with early menopause is crucial to inform women about potential health risks and guide public health interventions.
We collected data from KHANES (The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) at the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ministry of Health and Welfare between 2010 and 2020. These data were linked with summary pollution data from AiMS-CREATE (AI-Machine Learning and Statistics Collaborative Research Ensemble for Air Pollution, Temperature, and All Types of Environmental Exposures) from 2002 to 2020. These summary data encapsulate the monthly average air pollution predictions for 226 si-gun-gu (cities, counties, and districts) in Korea. A total of 8506 participants who had experienced menopause (early menopause: 40-44 years, N = 341; normal menopause: ≥ 45 years, N = 8165) between 2002 and 2020 were included in the analysis. We employed survey logistic regression analyses to determine the associations between ambient air pollution and menopause after adjusting for covariates.
An association was observed between particulate matter 2.5 (PM) and early menopause (adjusted survey logistic regression (aOR): 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-1.31), between particulate matter 10 (PM) and early menopause (aOR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.14-1.20).
Our findings suggest that exposure to ambient air pollution may contribute to the onset of menopause, emphasizing the importance of addressing air quality as a public health priority. This study highlights the need for further research to explore the underlying mechanisms and long-term health impacts of environmental factors associated with early menopause.
环境空气污染是一个严重的公共卫生问题，可能影响生殖健康，包括全球女性的生育能力和绝经年龄。因此，了解与早发性绝经相关的风险因素对于告知女性潜在的健康风险并指导公共卫生干预措施至关重要。
我们收集了2010年至2020年期间韩国疾病控制与预防中心（韩国卫生与福利部下属机构）开展的韩国国家健康与营养检查调查（KHANES）的数据。这些数据与2002年至2020年期间空气污染、温度及各类环境暴露的机器学习与统计协作研究集成（AiMS-CREATE）的汇总污染数据相关联。这些汇总数据涵盖了韩国226个市郡区的月平均空气污染预测值。分析纳入了2002年至2020年间经历绝经的8506名参与者（早发性绝经：40 - 44岁，N = 341；正常绝经：≥45岁，N = 8165）。我们采用调查逻辑回归分析来确定在调整协变量后环境空气污染与绝经之间的关联。
观察到细颗粒物2.5（PM）与早发性绝经之间存在关联（调整后的调查逻辑回归（aOR）：1.26，95%置信区间（CI）：1.21 - 1.31），可吸入颗粒物10（PM）与早发性绝经之间也存在关联（aOR：1.17，95%CI：1.14 - 1.20）。
我们的研究结果表明，暴露于环境空气污染可能会导致绝经提前，强调了将空气质量作为公共卫生重点问题加以解决的重要性。本研究凸显了进一步开展研究以探索与早发性绝经相关的环境因素的潜在机制和长期健康影响的必要性。
