Age at menarche in Iran

• Published in: Annals of human biology Vol. 29; no. 4; pp. 355 - 362
• Main Authors: Ayatollahi, S. M. T., Dowlatabadi, E., Ayatollahi, S. A. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa UK Ltd 2002; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Age Factors; Age of Onset; Anthropometry; Biological anthropology; Biology; Child; Female; Human body; Humans; Iran; Menarche - physiology; Menstruation; Socioeconomic status; Iran
• ISSN: 0301-4460; 1464-5033
• DOI: 10.1080/03014460110086817

Background : Age at menarche and its potential associated factors are reported for 1862 Shiraz (Southern Iran) secondary school girls taking part in a cross-sectional survey selected from the four educational districts of the city. Methods : Probit analysis was used to estimate age at menarche, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to analyse socio-economic status (SES). Body mass index (BMI) was used as an indicator of nutrition. Results : Mean &#45 SD age at menarche was 12.91 &#45 1.23 years (95% CI: 12.84-12.97). Of all subjects, 33.7% first menstruated in summer. The highest mean age at menarche was 13.01 years in winter. Stress, anxiety and discomfort was seen among 70.3% of subjects at menarche indicating total or partial ignorance of the menstruation phenomenon. Age at menarche decreased as SES improved. Menarcheal age was delayed for underweight subjects. Conclusions : It is concluded that BMI and SES had the most significant effects on variation of menarcheal age in a unified statistical model. However, their interaction was found to be not statistically significant.