ArticleArthritis research & therapy2012
Early menopause and severity of rheumatoid arthritis in women older than 45 years.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Menopause status and its role in incident Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease severity, and overall mortality in women with RA.Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism · 2026Article
- Shorter reproductive time span and early menopause increase the risk of ACPA-negative inflammatory arthritis in postmenopausal women with clinically suspect arthralgia.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Early menopause is associated with higher disease activity independent of inflammation in postmenopausal-onset rheumatoid arthritis.BMC women's health · 2025Observational
- Association between age at first birth and risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women: Evidence from NHANES 2011-2020.PloS one · 2025Article
- Menopausal state and rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC rheumatology · 2024Article
- Observational
- Respirasome Proteins Are Regulated by Sex-Hormone Interactions in the Brain.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- The Influence of Menopause and Inflammation on Redox Status and Bone Mineral Density in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2021Article
- Epidemiology of Ocular Manifestations in Autoimmune Disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
- Menopause and Rheumatic Disease.Rheumatic diseases clinics of North America · 2017Review
- Rheumatic autoimmune diseases in women and midlife health.Women's midlife health · 2015Article
- The influence of early menopause on cardiovascular risk in women with rheumatoid arthritis.The Journal of rheumatology · 2014Article
- Autoimmune diseases and reproductive aging.Clinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.) · 2013Review
- Rheumatological disorder (RD) in Indian women above 40 years of age: A cross-sectional WHO-ILAR-COPCORD-based survey.Journal of mid-life healthArticle
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionWe aimed to investigate whether recognized hormonal predictors of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) also influence the severity of RA.
methodsOne hundred thirty-four incident RA cases identified by four different local and national registers, who had participated in a community-based health survey between 1991 and 1996, were included. By a retrospective structured review of the medical records, information on the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), erosions on radiographs, rheumatoid factor (RF) status, and disability measured by using the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) were collected. The variables were added to the SPSS TwoStep Cluster Analysis to reveal natural groupings of RA severity. Known hormonal predictors analyzed were breastfeeding history, history of oral contraceptive (OC) use, and menopausal age.
resultsThe mean age at RA diagnosis was 63.4 years; 72% were RF positive, and 28% had received biological treatment. Three clusters were identified, one with severe RA, one with mild/moderate RF-positive RA, and one with mild/moderate RF-negative RA. A significant difference (P = 0.005) was found in the distribution of clusters between patients with a history of early menopause compared with those with menopause after 45 years, with a higher proportion with mild/moderate RF-negative RA in the early-menopause subset. No major difference in severity of the disease was noted depending on OC use or history of breastfeeding.
conclusionsEarly menopause was associated with a milder form of RA. Hormonal changes may influence pathways that are distinct from those leading to severe, progressive disease.
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