Years Since Menopause Is Associated With Lipid Profile In Postmenopausal Chinese Women：A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract Background: Previous studies have indicated that women with longer time since menopause are at higher risk of CVD. Moreover, Menopause-associated CVD risk is largely attributed to the change towards an atherogenic lipid profile. Few studies concerning association between years since menopause with lipid profile and there has been no consistent conclusion yet. This study was to explore the association of years since menopause with lipid profile in postmenopausal Chinese women.Methods: 633 postmenopausal women were recruited from Zhejiang, China in 2015-2021. Questionnaire-based interview on sociodemographic and reproductive information were obtained from each participant. Anthropometric measures, lipid profile and reproductive hormones were assessed. Based on the time since menopause, subjects were classified into three groups (group 1, 346 women with time since menopause < 2 years; group 2, 215 women with time since menopause 2-5.9 years; group 3, 72 women with time since menopause ≥ 6 years). The differences of lipid profile and reproductive hormones among groups were compared across three groups. Logistic and liner regression were performed to investigated the association of years since menopause with lipid profile.Results: The age (mean ± SD) of 633 subjects was 50.3 ± 6.0 years. HDL-C, LH levels were significantly lower in postmenopausal women with time since menopause ≥ 6 years compared to those with < 2 years, whereas LDL-C levels were significantly higher (P < 0.05 for all). Further adjustment for age, BMI and other confounders, longer time since menopause was independently associated with lower levels of HDL-C (β, -0.059, SE, 0.023, P < 0.01). Compared to women who had been menopause for less than 2 years, those with more than 6 years had lower HDL-C levels after adjustment for age, BMI, and other confounders (β, -0.123, 95% CI, [-0.221, -0.014], P < 0.05).Conclusions: Longer time since menopause was associated with lower levels of HDL-C in postmenopausal Chinese women.