2025/12/03 by Ingvild Særvold Bruserud, Edda Greaker, Martin Flatø +3 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Medicine · #Ectopic Pregnancy Diagnosis and Management #Historical demography #Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones #Menarche #Menstrual Health and Disorders #Norwegian #Population #Secular variation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/03014460.2025.2589079
published in Annals of Human Biology 52(1), 2589079 (Informa)
openalex created_date 2025/12/03 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
BACKGROUND: It is uncertain if age of menarche continues to decline. There has been no systematic meta-analysis of ages at menarche in Norway the past three decades. AIM: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess secular trends in menarcheal age in Norway. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase to identify studies including ages at menarche from healthy females. Re-analysis of data from 16 surveys were included together with 17 published studies in a meta-analysis using weighted regression analyses with fitted restricted cubic splines. Each study or dataset was given a random intercept to account for within-survey correlation. RESULTS: In total, 783,757 observations were included in the meta-analysis. Three distinct periods were identified. For women born 1840-1910, a large and stable decline with -0.14 to -0.20 years per decade (y/d) was observed, whilst in women born 1910-1950 this decline accelerated up to -0.30 y/d. The third period of women born 1950-2008 saw a small and stable decline with -0.06 to -0.08 y/d. CONCLUSION: Age at menarche declined throughout the study period from 1840-2008, but more rapidly in girls born between 1910-1950. Data suggest an ongoing, modest decline.