Aims/hypothesis: Menstrual cycle dysfunction has been associated with many endocrine-related diseases, but evidence linking menstrual cycle dysfunction with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is scant. The current study investigated the association of pre-pregnancy menstrual cycle regularity and length during adolescence, early adulthood and mid-adulthood with the subsequent risk of GDM.
Methods: Between 1993 and 2009, we followed 10,906 premenopausal women participating in the Nurses' Health Study II who reported menstrual cycle characteristics during adolescence (age 14-17 years), early adulthood (age 18-22 years) and mid-adulthood (age 29-46 years). Incident GDM was ascertained from a self-reported questionnaire regarding physician diagnosis. Log-binomial models with generalised estimating equations were used to estimate the RRs and 95% CI for the associations between menstrual cycle characteristics and GDM.
Results: We documented 578 incident cases of GDM among 14,418 pregnancies over a 16 year follow-up. After adjusting for potential confounders, women reporting always having irregular menstrual cycles during mid-adulthood had a 65% (95% CI 21, 125%) higher risk of GDM than women reporting very regular cycles. GDM risk was also greater among women reporting that their cycles were usually ≥32 days during mid-adulthood, compared with women reporting cycles between 26 and 31 days (RR 1.42 [95% CI 1.15, 1.75]). The risk of GDM was greater for women whose cycles changed from regular early in their reproductive years to irregular or from <32 days to ≥32 days during mid-adulthood, compared with women whose cycles remained <32 days or regular, respectively.
Conclusions/interpretation: Women whose cycles were long or irregular during mid-adulthood, but not in adolescence or young adulthood, were at higher risk of GDM.
Keywords: Epidemiology; Gestational diabetes mellitus; Menstrual cycle; Pregnancy; Public health.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.