Study finds early menopause affects 1 in 13 Bangladeshi women

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Around one in every 13 Bangladeshi women experiences menopause before the age of 45, according to the largest multi-country study led by researchers at icddr,b.

The study found that 7.5 percent of Bangladeshi women experience premature or early menopause, slightly higher than the average of 7.1 percent recorded across low- and middle-income countries.

In South Asia, Bangladesh’s rate was close to Nepal’s 7.9 percent and slightly below India’s 8 percent. Pakistan recorded a rate of 5.9 percent.

Menopause is a natural stage of life that marks the permanent end of menstruation and generally occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. Menopause before 45 is considered early menopause, while menopause before 40 is classified as premature menopause.

The study, published in BMJ Global Health, analysed health data from 716,648 women aged 30 to 49 across 44 low- and middle-income countries.

Researchers found significant differences linked to social and economic conditions. Women living in rural areas were more likely to experience menopause before the age of 45 than women living in urban areas. Even after accounting for education, wealth, employment and reproductive history, rural women remained 17 percent more likely to experience early menopause.

Education was identified as one of the strongest protective factors. Compared with women without formal education, those with primary education had 11 percent lower odds of early menopause. The reduction was 28 percent among women with secondary education and 58 percent among those with higher education.

The study also found that women who married at age 18 or later were less likely to experience early menopause than those who married earlier. A similar pattern was observed among women who had their first child at age 18 or later.

The researchers said the findings show that factors beyond biology influence early menopause. Women with lower levels of education, those living in rural communities and those who married or had children at younger ages consistently faced a greater risk across the countries studied.

They stressed that improving girls’ education and ensuring equal access to quality healthcare could help address the broader factors linked to early menopause.

Researchers also called for early menopause to be recognised as an important indicator of women's long-term health rather than simply a reproductive milestone. They recommended integrating menopause history into routine healthcare and increasing efforts to prevent child marriage, improve reproductive healthcare and further study the biological and social factors behind early menopause.