One in 13 BD women experiences early menopause

One in 13 Bangladeshi women experiences menopause before the age of 45, according to the largest multi-country study led by researchers at icddr,b.
Published last week in BMJ Global Health, the study analysed health data from 716,648 women across 44 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It found that approximately one in every 14 women in LMICs experiences premature or early menopause, icddr,b said in a media release on Tuesday.
Menopause occurring before the age of 45 is classified as early menopause, while menopause before the age of 40 is defined as premature menopause.
Women who experience menopause at an early age lose the protective effects of oestrogen much sooner than expected.
A growing body of evidence indicates that early menopause is associated with a significantly higher lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, cognitive decline and depression, all of which can substantially affect quality of life.
The study found that the prevalence of premature or early menopause in Bangladesh stood at 7.5 per cent, slightly higher than the LMIC average of 7.1 per cent.
Within South Asia, Bangladesh's prevalence was comparable to Nepal (7.9 per cent) and slightly lower than India (8.0 per cent), while Pakistan recorded 5.9 per cent. The findings underscore that premature or early menopause represents a significant public health challenge across the region.
The study also found that women living in rural areas were more likely to experience menopause before the age of 45 than their urban counterparts.
Even after adjusting for factors such as education, household wealth, employment status and reproductive history, rural women remained 17 per cent more likely to experience premature or early menopause. The findings point to persistent disparities in healthcare access, nutrition and overall living conditions.
Women who had their first child at the age of 18 or older were also less likely to experience menopause before the age of 45.
Among the countries studied, Ethiopia recorded the highest prevalence at 12.0 per cent, followed by Indonesia at 11.5 per cent, while Jordan had the lowest prevalence at 2.3 per cent.
"Our findings show that premature or early menopause is influenced by far more than biological factors. Across 44 countries, women with lower levels of education, those living in rural communities, and those who married or had their first child at a younger age consistently faced a greater burden," said Raisha Binte Islam, the study's lead author and a researcher at icddr,b.

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