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Recall of Early Menstrual History and Menarcheal Body Size: After 30 Years, How Well Do Women Remember?
Abstract
The validity of recall of early menstrual characteristics is of interest because of their putative role in the etiology of breast cancer and other diseases. A retrospective follow-up of the Newton Girls Study (1965-1975) provided an opportunity to assess the accuracy and precision of recall of several early menstrual characteristics. In 1998-1999, 57 percent of the original 793 Newton Girls Study participants completed a mailed questionnaire to assess the accuracy of recall for age and body size at menarche, usual cycle length during the first 2 years, and age at regularity. Recalled and original age at menarche were highly correlated (r = 0.79, p < 0.001). The body mass index percentile at menarche was well correlated with recalled body size at menarche (r = 0.61, p < 0.001), but with some evidence of systematic bias. Overall, a woman's recall of menarcheal age and body size was better than recall of cycle length and occurrence of regularity. The failure to identify certain menstrual characteristics as exposures for subsequent disease may reflect limitations in the accuracy and precision of the recalled measures.
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“recalled age at menarche is valid40”
From Thirty new loci for age at menarche identified by a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (2010) · cites this paper as [40]
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Early age at menarche associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality
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“However, other studies have shown high correlations between age at menarche by recall during middle age and the original childhood data (30, 31).”
BackgroundDay, F. R., Elks, C. E., Murray, A., Ong, K. K., & Perry, J. R. B. (2015) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep11208 · Cited by 531
Thirty new loci for age at menarche identified by a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies
The GIANT Consortium, Elks, C. E., Perry, J. R. B., Sulem, P., Chasman, D. I., Franceschini, N., He, C., Lunetta, K. L., Visser, J. A., Byrne, E. M., et al. (2010) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/ng.714 · Cited by 504
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“…across the last 40 years studies have reported correlation coefficients for reporting age at menarche across many years (e.g., .60–.81; Bergsten-Brucefors, 1976; Casey et al., 1991; Damon & Bajema, 1974; Livson & McNeill, 1962; Must et al., 2002), there is tremendous variability in reporting.”
BackgroundPrentice, P., & Viner, R. M. (2013) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/ijo.2012.177 · Cited by 418
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their effects on the ovary
Ding, N., Harlow, S. D., Randolph, J. F., Loch-Caruso, R. K., & Park, S. K. (2020) · Human Reproduction Update · doi:10.1093/humupd/dmaa018 · Cited by 420
“Furthermore, information on the timing of menarche, menstrual cycle length and age at menopause were based on self-reports, and recalled data may have been imprecise particularly for users of hormonal contraceptives (Must et al. , 2002; Small et al. , 2007).”
MethodEarly Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh
Field, E., & Ambrus, A. (2008) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/593333 · Cited by 592
Early stress predicts age at menarche and first birth, adult attachment, and expected lifespan
Chisholm, J. S., Quinlivan, J. A., Petersen, R. W., & Coall, D. A. (2005) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-005-1009-0 · Cited by 377
“In support of this hypothesis is Mischel's (1958, 1961 a, 196 l b; Mischel, Shoda and Rodriguez 1989 ) finding that well before they reached puberty both father-absent boys and girls were significantly more likely than fatherpresent children to accept a small, immediate reward compared with a larger but somewhat delay…”
MethodFamily environments, adrenarche and sexual maturation: a longitudinal test of a life history model
Ellis, B. J., & Essex, M. J. (2007) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01092.x · Cited by 320
Family Rearing Antecedents of Pubertal Timing
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L. D., Houts, R., Friedman, S. L., DeHart, G. B., Cauffman, E. E., Roisman, G. I., Halpern‐Felsher, B. L., & Susman, E. J. (2007) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01067.x · Cited by 283
Puberty and Its Measurement: A Decade in Review
Dorn, L. D., & Biro, F. M. (2011) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00722.x · Cited by 378
“In the past, correlations ranged from .60 to .81 (Bergsten-Brucefors, 1976; Casey et al., 1991; Damon & Bajema, 1974; Livson & McNeill, 1962; Must et al., 2002; Susman & Ponirakis, 1997) and were obtained in females across the teen years to the seventh or eighth decade.”
BackgroundThe relation of menarcheal age to obesity in childhood and adulthood: the Bogalusa heart study
Freedman, D. S., Khan, L. K., Serdula, M. K., Dietz, W. H., Srinivasan, S. R., & Berenson, G. S. (2003) · BMC Pediatrics · doi:10.1186/1471-2431-3-3 · Cited by 267
Remsberg, K. E., Demerath, E. W., Schubert, C. M., Chumlea, W. C., Sun, S. S., & Siervogel, R. M. (2005) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2004-1991 · Cited by 253
Age at Menopause, Reproductive Life Span, and Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Brand, J. S., van der Schouw, Y. T., Onland‐Moret, N. C., Sharp, S. J., Ong, K. K., Khaw, K., Ardanáz, E., Amiano, P., Boeing, H., Chirlaque, M., et al. (2012) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc12-1020 · Cited by 245
Feng, Y., Hong, X., Wilker, E. H., Li, Z., Zhang, W., Jin, D., Liu, X., Zang, T., Xu, X., & Xu, X. (2007) · Atherosclerosis · doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2007.06.016 · Cited by 236
McDowell, M., Brody, D. J., & Hughes, J. P. (2007) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.10.002 · Cited by 235
Age at Menarche in Relation to Adult Height
Onland-Moret, N. C., Peeters, P. H. M., van Gils, C. H., Clavel-Chapelon, F., Key, T., Tjønneland, A., Trichopoulou, A., Kaaks, R., Manjer, J., Panico, S., et al. (2005) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwi260 · Cited by 227
“(35) were able to compare the actual measured age at menarche and the reported age 33 years later.”
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Validity of age at menarche self-reported in adulthood
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Lakshman, R., Forouhi, N. G., Luben, R., Bingham, S. A., Khaw, K., Wareham, N. J., & Ong, K. K. (2008) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-008-0948-5 · Cited by 203
“79) between age at menarche by recall during middle-age and the original childhood data [17, 18].”
BackgroundAge of menarche in a longitudinal US cohort
Biro, F. M., Pajak, A., Wolff, M. S., Pinney, S. M., Windham, G. C., Galvez, M. P., Greenspan, L. C., Kushi, L. H., & Teitelbaum, S. L. (2018) · Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology · doi:10.1016/j.jpag.2018.05.002 · Cited by 200
Familial central precocious puberty suggests autosomal dominant inheritance
de Vries, L., Kauschansky, A., Shohat, M., & Phillip, M. (2004) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2003-030361 · Cited by 195
Age at Menarche and Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Elks, C. E., Ong, K. K., Scott, R. A., van der Schouw, Y. T., Brand, J. S., Wark, P. A., Amiano, P., Balkau, B., Barricarte, A., Boeing, H., et al. (2013) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc13-0446 · Cited by 186
“However, age at menarche assessed by recall during adulthood has shown high correlationswith prospectively assessed childhood data (1,32).”
BackgroundAge at menarche and adult BMI in the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s Cohort Study
Pierce, M. B., & Leon, D. A. (2005) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/82.4.733 · Cited by 186
Association of endometriosis with body size and figure
Hediger, M. L., Hartnett, H. J., & Louis, G. M. B. (2005) · Fertility and Sterility · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.05.029 · Cited by 179
Wang, Y., Arvizu, M., Rich-Edwards, J. W., Stuart, J. J., Manson, J. E., Missmer, S. A., Pan, A., & Chavarro, J. E. (2020) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.m3464 · Cited by 179
In utero exposure to organochlorines and age at menarche
Vasiliu, O. (2004) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/deh292 · Cited by 177
“However, other studies showed a good agreement between actual age at menarche and recalled menarcheal age, for both short-and long-term recollections (Damon et al., 1969; Bergsten-Brucefors, 1976; Damon and Bajema, 1974; Casey et al., 1991; Koprowski et al., 2001; Must et al., 2002).”
ResultAge of Menarche and the Metabolic Syndrome in China
Heys, M., Schooling, C. M., Jiang, C., Cowling, B. J., Lao, X. Q., Zhang, W., Cheng, K. K., Adab, P., Thomas, G. N., Lam, T. H., et al. (2007) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/ede.0b013e3181567faf · Cited by 165
“Recall of age of menarche is reliable over many years.(40) We demonstrated good reliability on repeat questioning of age of menarche.”
BackgroundTiming of pubertal stages and breast cancer risk: the Breakthrough Generations Study
Bodicoat, D. H., Schoemaker, M. J., Jones, M. E., McFadden, E. C., Griffin, J. M., Ashworth, A., & Swerdlow, A. J. (2014) · Breast Cancer Research · doi:10.1186/bcr3613 · Cited by 161
“There is some evidence of this inaccuracy for regular menses [2,32], but the validity of recalled age at thelarche does not appear to have been studied previously and we had to rely on proxies for age at peak growth.”
BackgroundQiu, C., Chen, H., Wen, J., Zhu, P., Lin, F., Huang, B., Wu, P., Qingfei, L., Lin, Y., Rao, H., et al. (2013) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2012-2919 · Cited by 159
“low-up by Must et al (47) found that recalled and original”
BackgroundInfluentialSerum DDT, age at menarche, and abnormal menstrual cycle length
Ouyang, F., Perry, M. J., Venners, S. A., Chen, C., Wang, B., Yang, F., Fang, Z., Zang, T., Wang, L., Xu, X., et al. (2005) · Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1136/oem.2005.020248 · Cited by 157
“32 Furthermore, because serum DDT or DDE was measured after the completion of the field study, and women were not aware of their serum DDT or DDE levels, any recall bias, if it existed, would most likely have introduced a non-differential misclassification bias.”
InterLACE Study Team (2019) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/dez015 · Cited by 157
Age at menarche in a Korean population: secular trends and influencing factors
Cho, G. J., Park, H. T., Shin, J., Hur, J. Y., Kim, Y. T., Kim, S. H., Lee, K. W., & Kim, T. (2009) · European Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1007/s00431-009-0993-1 · Cited by 153
“However, results from other studies have reported that the recall method of age at menarche is reliable and valid [14, 20 ].”
ResultBaer, H. J., Colditz, G. A., ROSNER, B. A., Michels, K. B., Rich-Edwards, J. W., Hunter, D. J., & Willett, W. C. (2005) · Breast Cancer Research · doi:10.1186/bcr998 · Cited by 153
“Other studies have yielded similar findings [26-29], indicating that these figure drawings can provide a reasonably accurate assessment of body fatness at young ages.”
BackgroundResultBreast cancer risk accumulation starts early: prevention must also
Colditz, G. A., Bohlke, K., & Berkey, C. S. (2014) · Breast Cancer Research and Treatment · doi:10.1007/s10549-014-2993-8 · Cited by 160
“To understand childhood adiposity and breast cancer risk, numerous studies have used the Stunkard body figures (9 figure drawings that illustrate a range of body sizes from lean to obese) that perform well against measured childhood weight when recalled up to 30 years later [57, 58].”
Long-term effects of prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances on female reproduction
Kristensen, S. L., Ramlau-Hansen, C. H., Ernst, E., Olsen, S. F., Bonde, J. P., Vested, A., Halldorsson, T. I., Becher, G., Haug, L. S., & Toft, G. (2013) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/det382 · Cited by 151
“However, even for a time span of decades, recollection of age of menarche has been demonstrated to be both precise and without bias (Must et al., 2002).”
BackgroundEarlier Mother's Age at Menarche Predicts Rapid Infancy Growth and Childhood Obesity
Ong, K. K., Northstone, K., Wells, J. C. K., Rubin, C., Ness, A., Golding, J., & Dunger, D. B. (2007) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040132 · Cited by 150
Bleil, M. E., Gregorich, S. E., Adler, N. E., Sternfeld, B., Rosen, M. P., & Cedars, M. I. (2013) · Fertility and Sterility · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.09.015 · Cited by 149
“Menarcheal age was assessed by asking women to report the age of their first menstrual period; retrospective reports of menarcheal age have been shown to be highly reliable even over lengthy recall intervals (42).”
Jacobsen, B. K., Oda, K., Knutsen, S. F., & Fraser, G. E. (2009) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyn251 · Cited by 148
A longitudinal study of infant feeding and obesity throughout life course
Michels, K. B., Willett, W. C., Graubard, B. I., Vaidya, R. I., Cantwell, M. M., Sansbury, L. B., & Forman, M. R. (2007) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803622 · Cited by 144
The Impact of Endometriosis on Quality of Life in Adolescents
Gallagher, J. S., DiVasta, A. D., Vitonis, A. F., Sarda, V., Laufer, M. R., & Missmer, S. A. (2018) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.06.027 · Cited by 143
Farr, S. L., Cooper, G. S., Cai, J., Savitz, D. A., & Sandler, D. P. (2004) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwi006 · Cited by 142
Lee, Y., & Styne, D. M. (2013) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.03.014 · Cited by 145
“…occurs on an average 3 years after the onset of puberty and is a late marker for the onset of puberty, it is oftenused as a surrogate for the onset of puberty because it is a sentinel event that is often well remembered within 12 months of accuracy, even up to 30 years later (Must et al., 2002).”
BackgroundReproductive and hormonal factors and risk of brain tumors in adult females
Hatch, E. E., Linet, M. S., Zhang, J., Fine, H. A., Shapiro, W. R., Selker, R. G., Black, P. M., & Inskip, P. D. (2004) · International Journal of Cancer · doi:10.1002/ijc.20776 · Cited by 139
A large-scale candidate gene association study of age at menarche and age at natural menopause
He, C., Kraft, P. L., Chasman, D. I., Buring, J. E., Chen, C., Hankinson, S. E., Paré, G., Chanock, S. J., Ridker, P. M., & Hunter, D. J. (2010) · Human Genetics · doi:10.1007/s00439-010-0878-4 · Cited by 137
“Must et al. (2002) observed a correlation of 0.79 between contemporarily documented and recalled age at menarche after 30 years.”
InfluentialEarly Age at Menarche, Lung Function, and Adult Asthma
Macsali, F., Real, F. G., Plana, E., Sunyer, J., Antó, J. M., Dratva, J., Janson, C., Jarvis, D., Omenaas, E. R., Zemp, E., et al. (2010) · American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine · doi:10.1164/rccm.200912-1886oc · Cited by 130
Birth Weight, Postnatal Growth, and Age at Menarche
Terry, M. B., Ferris, J. S., Tehranifar, P., Wei, Y., & Flom, J. D. (2009) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwp095 · Cited by 125
Genetic determinants of pubertal timing in the general population
Gajdos, Z. K. Z., Henderson, K. D., Hirschhorn, J. N., & Palmert, M. R. (2010) · Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.mce.2010.01.038 · Cited by 121
“Categorizing AAM and/or using the extremes can both improve the accuracy of recall [93,94].”
MethodResultInfluentialStöckl, D., Meisinger, C., Peters, A., Thorand, B., Huth, C., Heier, M., Rathmann, W., Kowall, B., Stöckl, H., & Döring, A. (2011) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026076 · Cited by 117
“However, studies have shown that the actual reported mean age at menarche did not differ from the mean age at menarche recalled 33 years later [33,34].”
BackgroundUpdate on Age at Menarche in Italy: Toward the Leveling Off of the Secular Trend
Rigon, F., Bianchin, L., Bernasconi, S., Bona, G., Bozzola, M., Buzi, F., Cicognani, A., Sanctis, C. D., Sanctis, V. D., Radetti, G., et al. (2009) · Journal of Adolescent Health · doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.07.009 · Cited by 117
“Second, even though memory bias is possible, several studies have shown that the results from such questionnaires are reliable when the data collection is close to the menarcheal event [32–35].”
BackgroundJames-Todd, T. M., Tehranifar, P., Rich-Edwards, J. W., Titievsky, L., & Terry, M. B. (2010) · Annals of Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2010.08.006 · Cited by 116
Jacobsen, B. K., Heuch, I., & Kvåle, G. (2007) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwm237 · Cited by 114
“No study of the validity and reproducibility of the data about age at menarche was conducted within this cohort, but other studies have found that most women are able to recall the age at menarche with relatively high validity (26, 27) and reproducibility (25, 28, 29).”
BackgroundMustanski, B. S., Viken, R. J., Kaprio, J. A., Pulkkinen, L., & Rose, R. J. (2004) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.6.1188 · Cited by 114
Age of puberty and the risk of multiple sclerosis: a population based study
Ramagopalan, S. V., Valdar, W. S. J., Criscuoli, M. G., DeLuca, G. C., Dyment, D. A., Orton, S. M., Yee, I. M. L., Ebers, G. C., Sadovnick, A. D., & for the Canadian Collaborative Study Group (2008) · European Journal of Neurology · doi:10.1111/j.1468-1331.2008.02431.x · Cited by 107
“79) between age at menarche by recall during middle-age and the original childhood data [22,23], supporting the notion that the association we have observed is real and not just a reflection of bias.”
BackgroundSystematic review and meta-analysis of age at menarche and risk of type 2 diabetes
Janghorbani, M., Mansourian, M., & Hosseini, E. (2014) · Acta Diabetologica · doi:10.1007/s00592-014-0579-x · Cited by 105
“Age at menarche represents a distinct event in puberty, is usually well recalled into adulthood, and therefore is a convenient noninvasive measure of pubertal timing [5, 6].”
BackgroundDoes This Woman Have Osteoporosis?
Green, A. D. (2004) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.292.23.2890 · Cited by 107
Must, A., Naumova, E. N., Phillips, S. M., Blum, M., Dawson‐Hughes, B., & Rand, W. M. (2005) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2004-1604 · Cited by 107
Self-citationMaternal Body Mass Index and Daughters’ Age at Menarche
Keim, S. A., Branum, A. M., Klebanoff, M. A., & Zemel, B. S. (2009) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/ede.0b013e3181b093ce · Cited by 107
“Age at menarche was based on recall in adulthood, which may be less accurate than recall closer to the event.(36,37) Maternal report of prepregnant weight may be prone to underestimation, but this would not account for the association because this bias would tend to draw the effect estimates toward the null.”
BackgroundD'hooghe, M. B., Haentjens, P., Nagels, G., D’Hooghe, T., & Keyser, J. D. (2011) · Journal of Neurology · doi:10.1007/s00415-011-6267-7 · Cited by 105
“Furthermore, recalled and original age at menarche were highly correlated in a cohort of women nearing menopause [29].”
BackgroundBody Mass Index, Change in Body Silhouette, and Risk of Asthma in the E3N Cohort Study
Romieu, I. (2003) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwg131 · Cited by 104
Pubertal timing and breast cancer risk in the Sister Study cohort
Goldberg, M., D’Aloisio, A. A., O’Brien, K. M., Zhao, S., & Sandler, D. P. (2020) · Breast Cancer Research · doi:10.1186/s13058-020-01326-2 · Cited by 112
Pubertal Timing Predicts Previous Fractures and BMD in Young Adult Men: The GOOD Study
Kindblom, J. M., Lorentzon, M., Norjavaara, E., Hellqvist, Å., Nilsson, S., Mellström, D., & Ohlsson, C. (2006) · Journal of Bone and Mineral Research · doi:10.1359/jbmr.020602 · Cited by 101
“method is less certain if there is a long time interval between menarche and recall.((8,9)) In men, no reliable method”
MethodAge at menarche and its relationship to body mass index among adolescent girls in Kuwait
Al-Awadhi, N., Al-Kandari, N. A., Alhasan, T. A., Almurjan, D. K., Ali, S., & Al‐Taiar, A. (2013) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-29 · Cited by 101
Prenatal and Infant Exposures and Age at Menarche
D’Aloisio, A. A., DeRoo, L. A., Baird, D. D., Weinberg, C. R., & Sandler, D. P. (2013) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/ede.0b013e31828062b7 · Cited by 100
Association of puberty timing with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Cheng, T. S., Day, F. R., Lakshman, R., & Ong, K. K. (2020) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003017 · Cited by 110
“AAM was self-reported and was mainly recalled during adulthood, which may affect its accuracy; however, moderate correlations between prospective and recalled AAM several decades later have been reported [60,61].”
BackgroundVitonis, A. F., Baer, H. J., Hankinson, S. E., Laufer, M. R., & Missmer, S. A. (2010) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/deq039 · Cited by 98
“Although two well-designed validation studies (Must et al., 1993, 2002) demonstrated that longterm recall of body size using this figure drawing has good correlations with BMI at the same ages, no participants in either of those studies recalled their figures as greater than level 7 at young ages;…”
Body mass index in early and mid-adulthood, and subsequent mortality: a historical cohort study
Jeffreys, M., McCarron, P. A., Gunnell, D., McEwen, J., & Smith, G. D. (2003) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0802414 · Cited by 98
Gottschalk, M. S., Eskild, A., Hofvind, S. S. H., Gran, J. M., & Bjelland, E. K. (2019) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/dez288 · Cited by 97
“Previous studies have found moderate to high agreement of age at menarche as reported in adulthood with the true age at menarche (Cooper et al ., 2006; Must et al ., 2002).”
Menarche and Time to Cycle Regularity Among Individuals Born Between 1950 and 2005 in the US
Wang, Z., Asokan, G., Onnela, J.-P. “., Baird, D. D., Jukic, A. M. Z., Wilcox, A. J., Curry, C. L., Fischer‐Colbrie, T., Williams, M. A., Hauser, R. B., et al. (2024) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.12854 · Cited by 97
Epperson, C. N., Sammel, M. D., Bale, T. L., Kim, D. R., Conlin, S. E., Scalice, S., Freeman, K., & Freeman, E. W. (2017) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.4088/jcp.16m10662 · Cited by 98
17- -Estradiol in relation to age at menarche and adult obesity in premenopausal women
Emaus, A., Finstad, S. E., Veierød, M. B., Ballard-Barbash, R. R., Furberg, A.-S., Ellison, P. T., Grazyna Jasienska, A., Hjartåker, A., & Thune, I. (2008) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/dem432 · Cited by 95
“Age at menarche was collected retrospectively and misclassification is possible, although several studies have found age at menarche to be recalled with high reliability (Must et al., 2002).”
BackgroundCousminer, D. L., Stergiakouli, E., Berry, D. J., Ang, W., Groen‐Blokhuis, M. M., Körner, A., Siitonen, N., Ντάλλα, Ι., Marinelli, M., Perry, J. R. B., et al. (2014) · Human Molecular Genetics · doi:10.1093/hmg/ddu150 · Cited by 95
Heys, M., Jiang, C., Cheng, K. K., Zhang, W., Yeung, S. L. A., Lam, T. H., Leung, G. M., & Schooling, C. M. (2010) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.11.009 · Cited by 92
Age at Menarche: 50-Year Socioeconomic Trends Among US-Born Black and White Women
Krieger, N., Kiang, M. V., Кошелева, А., Waterman, P. D., Chen, J. T., & Beckfield, J. (2014) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2014.301936 · Cited by 90
Stöckl, D., Döring, A., Peters, A., Thorand, B., Heier, M., Huth, C., Stöckl, H., Rathmann, W., Kowall, B., & Meisinger, C. (2011) · Diabetologia · doi:10.1007/s00125-011-2410-3 · Cited by 94
“that different from the mean age at menarche recalled 33 years later [36, 37].”
BackgroundGestational Weight Gain and Daughter's Age at Menarche
Boynton‐Jarrett, R., Rich-Edwards, J. W., Fredman, L., Hibert, E. N. L., Michels, K. B., Forman, M. R., & Wright, R. J. (2011) · Journal of Women s Health · doi:10.1089/jwh.2010.2517 · Cited by 88
Puberty, obesity and ethnicity
Styne, D. M. (2004) · Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.tem.2004.10.008 · Cited by 90
Family composition and menarcheal age: Anti‐inbreeding strategies
Matchock, R. L., & Susman, E. J. (2006) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.20508 · Cited by 88
Childhood Abuse and Early Menarche: Findings From the Black Women's Health Study
Wise, L. A., Palmer, J. R., Rothman, E. F., & Rosenberg, L. A. (2009) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2008.149005 · Cited by 87
Mueller, N. T., Duncan, B. B., Barreto, S. M., Chor, D., Bessel, M., Aquino, E. M. L., Pereira, M. A., & Schmidt, M. (2014) · Cardiovascular Diabetology · doi:10.1186/1475-2840-13-22 · Cited by 88
“79) correlation with original adolescent reports [28].”
Bjelland, E. K., Hofvind, S. S. H., Byberg, L., & Eskild, A. (2018) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/dey078 · Cited by 84
“are moderately to highly correlated (Must et al., 2002; Cooper et al., 2006).”
MethodAge at menarche and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers
Kotsopoulos, J., Lubiński, J., Lynch, H. T., Neuhausen, S. L., Ghadirian, P., Isaacs, C. J., Weber, B., Kim‐Sing, C., Foulkes, W. D., Gershoni‐Baruch, R., et al. (2005) · Cancer Causes & Control · doi:10.1007/s10552-005-1724-1 · Cited by 84
“001) [36].”
Cairns, B. J., Liu, B. C., Clennell, S., Cooper, R., REEVES, G. K., Beral, V., & Kuh, D. J. (2011) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-7 · Cited by 83
“again, greater under-reporting of weight by heavier individuals) [3,4,10].”
BackgroundInfluentialPolotsky, A. J., Hailpern, S. M., Skurnick, J., Lo, J. C.-M., Sternfeld, B., & Santoro, N. F. (2009) · Fertility and Sterility · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.12.059 · Cited by 83
“001) between the BMI percentile at menarche and recalled body size at menarche (19).”
Hosokawa, M., Imazeki, S., Mizunuma, H., Kubota, T., & Hayashi, K. (2012) · BMC Women s Health · doi:10.1186/1472-6874-12-19 · Cited by 81
The reproducibility of self-reported age at menarche: The Tromsø Study
Lundblad, M. W., & Jacobsen, B. K. (2017) · BMC Women s Health · doi:10.1186/s12905-017-0420-0 · Cited by 83
Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Menstrual Cycle Characteristics
Cooper, G. S., Klebanoff, M. A., Promislow, J. H. E., Brock, J. W., & Longnecker, M. P. (2005) · Epidemiology · doi:10.1097/01.ede.0000152913.12393.86 · Cited by 80
Abnormal timing of menarche in survivors of central nervous system tumors
Armstrong, G. T., Whitton, J. A., Gajjar, A. J., Kun, L. E., Chow, E. J., Stovall, M., Leisenring, W. M., Robison, L. L., & Sklar, C. A. (2009) · Cancer · doi:10.1002/cncr.24294 · Cited by 78
“The self-report nature of data collection may be a limitation of this study, although previous work suggests women’s recall of age at menarche is generally quite accurate.(33) In addition, recall of menarche is better than that of other pubertal milestones.”
ResultAntipsychotic Response Worsens With Postmenopausal Duration in Women With Schizophrenia
González-Rodríguez, A., Catalán, R., Penadés, R., Ruíz, V., Torra, M., Seeman, M. V., & Bernardo, M. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/jcp.0000000000000571 · Cited by 77
Takmaz, T., Gündoğmuş, İ., Ökten, S. B., & Gündüz, A. (2021) · Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research · doi:10.1111/jog.14900 · Cited by 77
“However, earlier studies have reported that women recall their menstrual history.(51,52) Also, the majority of our study population was using a period tracking application, which may increase the accuracy and reliability of the data.”
BackgroundReproductive and hormonal factors and risk of cognitive impairment among Singapore Chinese women
Song, X., Wu, J., Zhou, Y., Feng, L., Yuan, J., Pan, A., & Koh, W. (2020) · American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2020.02.032 · Cited by 73
James-Todd, T. M., Terry, M. B., Rich-Edwards, J. W., Deierlein, A. L., & Senie, R. T. (2011) · Annals of Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2011.01.009 · Cited by 75
Rubeis, V. D., Bayat, S., Griffith, L. E., Smith, B. T., & Anderson, L. N. (2019) · Obesity Reviews · doi:10.1111/obr.12881 · Cited by 74
“Previous studies have used body size pictograms to aid participants in recalling past body size.(15,16) The use of body size pictograms require participants to choose a body image (ranging from lean to overweight) that most closely corresponded to their own body size(16); the validity of these tools for early life rec…”
MethodSocio-demographic predictors of age at menarche in a group of Colombian university women
Chavarro, J. E., Villamor, E., Narváez, J., & Hoyos, A. C. G. (2004) · Annals of Human Biology · doi:10.1080/03014460310001652239 · Cited by 74
“However, several studies have found the recall method to be reliable, accurate and valid, and have recommended it for epidemiological research (Bosetti et al. 2001, Must et al. 2002).”
BackgroundInfluentialERICA: age at menarche and its association with nutritional status
Barros, B. D. S., Kuschnir, M. C. C., Bloch, K. V., & da Silva, T. L. N. (2018) · Jornal de Pediatria · doi:10.1016/j.jped.2017.12.004 · Cited by 74
Clancy, K. B. H., Klein, L. D., Ziomkiewicz, A., Nenko, I., Grazyna Jasienska, A., & Bribiescas, R. G. (2013) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.22386 · Cited by 72
Puberty: Its role in development.
Susman, E. J., & Dorn, L. D. (2013) · Cited by 72
Jorm, A. F., Christensen, H. M., Rodgers, B., Jacomb, P. A., & Easteal, S. (2003) · American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.20114 · Cited by 72
Metadata
- Authors
- Must, A.
- Affiliations
- Tufts University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Must, A.
- ORCID
- Must, A.
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2002-04-01
- Volume
- 155
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 672-679
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2034939744
- Cited by
- 506
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 6.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30DK046200, DK46200.)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
- Keywords
- menarche, recall accuracy, age at menarche, menstrual cycle length, breast cancer etiology
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Body Height, Body Image, Body Weight, Female, Humans, Menarche, Menstruation, Mental Recall, Retrospective Studies, Bias, Body Mass Index, Linear Models, Statistics, Nonparametric
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