The relation of number of childbirths with age at natural menopause: a population study of 310 147 women in Norway

Simulating the population impact of interventions to reduce racial gaps in breast cancer treatment

BACKGROUND

Inequities in guideline-concordant treatment receipt contribute to worse survival in Black patients with breast cancer. Inequity-reduction interventions (eg, navigation, bias training, tracking dashboards) can close such treatment gaps. We simulated the population-level impact of statewide implementation of inequity-reduction interventions on racial breast cancer inequities in North Carolina.

METHODS

Using registry-linked multipayer claims data, we calculated inequities between Black and White patients receiving endocrine therapy (n = 12 033) and chemotherapy (n = 1819). We then built cohort-stratified (endocrine therapy and chemotherapy) and race-stratified Markov models to simulate the potential increase in the proportion of patients receiving endocrine therapy or chemotherapy and subsequent improvements in breast cancer outcomes if inequity-reducing intervention were implemented statewide. We report uncertainty bounds representing 95% of simulation results.

RESULTS

In total, 75.6% and 72.1% of Black patients received endocrine therapy and chemotherapy, respectively, over the 2006-2015 and 2004-2015 periods (vs 79.3% and 78.9% of White patients, respectively). Inequity-reduction interventions could increase endocrine therapy and chemotherapy receipt among Black patients to 89.9% (85.3%, 94.6%) and 85.7% (80.7%, 90.9%). Such interventions could also decrease 5-year and 10-year breast cancer mortality gaps from 3.4 to 3.2 (3.0, 3.3) and from 6.7 to 6.1 (5.9, 6.4) percentage points in the endocrine therapy cohorts and from 8.6 to 8.1 (7.7, 8.4) and from 8.2 to 7.8 (7.3, 8.1) percentage points in the chemotherapy cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS

Inequity-focused interventions could improve cancer outcomes for Black patients, but they would not fully close the racial breast cancer mortality gap. Addressing other inequities along the cancer continuum (eg, screening, pre- and postdiagnosis risk factors) is required to achieve full equity in breast cancer outcomes.

Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of sarcoidosis: a population-based nested case-control study in Sweden

Sarcoidosis incidence peaks in women between 50 and 60 years old, which coincides with menopause, suggesting that certain sex hormones, mainly estrogen, may play a role in disease development. We investigated whether menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) was associated with sarcoidosis risk in women and whether the risk varied by treatment type. We performed a nested case-control study (2007-2020) including incident sarcoidosis cases from the Swedish National Patient Register (n = 2593) and matched (1:10) to general population controls (n = 20,003) on birth year, county, and living in Sweden at the time of sarcoidosis diagnosis. Dispensations of MHT were obtained from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register before sarcoidosis diagnosis/matching. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of sarcoidosis were estimated using conditional logistic regression. Ever MHT use was associated with a 25% higher risk of sarcoidosis compared with never use (aOR 1.25, 95% CI 1.13-1.38). When MHT type and route of administration were considered together, systemic estrogen was associated with the highest risk of sarcoidosis (aOR 1.51, 95% CI 1.23-1.85), followed by local estrogen (aOR 1.25, 95% CI 1.11-1.42), while systemic estrogen-progestogen combined was associated with the lowest risk compared to never users (aOR 1.12, 95% CI 0.96-1.31). The aOR of sarcoidosis did not differ greatly by duration of MHT use. Our findings suggest that a history of MHT use is associated with increased risk of sarcoidosis, with women receiving estrogen administered systemically having the highest risk.

Number of children and cognitive function among Chinese menopausal women: The mediating role of depressive symptoms and social participation

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the association between number of children and cognitive function and its possible hormone and psychosocial pathways in Chinese menopausal women.

METHODS

We analyzed data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHALRS), including 4803 menopausal women. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression modeling and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to explore the association between number of children and cognitive function and the potential mechanisms.

RESULTS

Overall, the median number of biological children was three among participants. The cognitive function score decreased significantly with increasing numbers of children [β = -0.547, 95 % confidence interval (CI): -0.677, -0.416]. There was a significant interaction between number of children and residence (P = 0.003). Compared with older women with three or less children, women with more than three children had worse cognitive function (β = -0.798, 95 % CI: -1.081, -0.514). Mediation analysis verified that depressive symptoms and social participation partially mediate the associations between the number of children and cognitive function.

LIMITATIONS

First, because of the cross-sectional design, our study was unable to make causal inferences. Second, information about endogenous estrogen exposure was not collected in CHARLS. Third, recall bias may exist due to the use of self-reported data.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicated that a higher number of children is associated with an increased risk for cognitive impairment. We suggest paying special attention to mental and social health among women with multiple children (>3).

Maternal age at birth of last child and cardiovascular disease mortality later in life among a national cohort of postmenopausal women from the United States

Maternal age at last birth of child is increasing in the United States, and it has been reported to influence future chronic diseases. In this study of nationally-representative sample of postmenopausal women, there was no conclusive association between maternal age at last birth of child and cardiovascular disease mortality later in life.

Objective

Maternal age at last birth (ALB) of child is increasing in the United States, and it has been reported to influence future chronic diseases. However, the relationship of ALB and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events later in life has not been widely studied. We evaluated the association of ALB with CVD mortality.

Methods

Data were from 7,971 parous postmenopausal women older than 45 years who participated in the US National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey from 1999 to 2018 and had mortality follow-up data through to December 31, 2019. ALB was self-reported, whereas CVD mortality was assessed using International Classification of Diseases codes. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results

The mean age of participants was 63 ± 9.8 years, with 9.5% being non-Hispanic Black, 9.7% being Hispanic women, and 21% reporting ALB ≥35 years. During a median follow-up of 8.1 years, 443 participants died from CVD. In age-adjusted models, CVD mortality was elevated for women with ALB of <25 years (HR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.23-2.29) and ALB of ≥35 years (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.00-1.88). However, after additional adjustment for race and ethnicity, foreign born, education, marital status, poverty income ratio, parity, smoking status, age at menarche, oral contraceptive pills use and family history of myocardial infarction, these estimates were attenuated resulting in no association between ALB and CVD mortality.

Conclusions

In this study of nationally representative sample of postmenopausal women, there was no conclusive association between maternal ALB and CVD mortality later in life.

Aging conundrum: A perspective for ovarian aging

Progressive loss of physiological integrity and accumulation of degenerative changes leading to functional impairment and increased susceptibility to diseases are the main features of aging. The ovary, the key organ that maintains female reproductive and endocrine function, enters aging earlier and faster than other organs and has attracted extensive attention from society. Ovarian aging is mainly characterized by the progressive decline in the number and quality of oocytes, the regulatory mechanisms of which have yet to be systematically elucidated. This review discusses the hallmarks of aging to further highlight the main characteristics of ovarian aging and attempt to explore its clinical symptoms and underlying mechanisms. Finally, the intervention strategies related to aging are elaborated, especially the potential role of stem cells and cryopreservation of embryos, oocytes, or ovarian tissue in the delay of ovarian aging.