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Publication Detail
Follicle-stimulating hormone in postmenopausal women living with HIV: a prevalence study
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Publication Type:Journal article
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Authors:Tariq S, Okhai H, Severn A, Sabin CA, Burns F, Gilson R, Fox J, Gilleece Y, Mackie NE, Post FA, Reeves I, Rosenvinge M, Sullivan A, Ustianowski A, Miller RF
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Publication date:17/11/2021
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Journal:HIV Medicine
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Status:Accepted
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Country:England
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Print ISSN:1468-1293
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Language:English
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Keywords:HIV, ageing, follicle-stimulating hormone, menopause, women
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Publisher URL:
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Notes:© 2021 The Authors. HIV Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British HIV Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We examined follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels in women living with HIV aged > 45 reporting ≥ 12 months' amenorrhoea, and investigated correlation with menopausal symptoms. METHODS: A cross-sectional substudy of 85 women from the Positive Transitions through the Menopause (PRIME) Study who reported irregular periods at entry into the PRIME Study and ≥ 12 months' amenorrhoea at recruitment into this substudy. Serum FSH was supplemented with clinical data and menopausal symptom assessment. Serum FSH > 30 mIU/mL was defined as consistent with postmenopausal status. Associations between FSH and menopausal symptom severity were assessed using Pearson's correlation and the Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: Median age was 53 years [interquartile range (IQR): 51-55]; all were on antiretroviral therapy, three-quarters (n = 65) had a CD4 T-cell count > 500 cells/μL and 91.8% (n = 78) had an HIV viral load (VL) < 50 copies/mL. Median FSH was 65.9 mIU/mL (IQR: 49.1-78.6). Only four women (4.7%) had FSH ≤ 30 mIU/mL; none reported smoking or drug use, all had CD4 T-cell count ≥ 200 cells/μL, and one had viral load (VL) ≥ 50 copies/mL. Median body mass index (BMI) was elevated compared with women with FSH > 30 mIU/mL (40.8 vs. 30.5 kg/m2 ). Over a quarter (28.2%) reported severe menopausal symptoms, with no correlation between FSH and severity of menopausal symptoms (p = 0.21), or hot flushes (p = 0.37). CONCLUSIONS: Four women in this small substudy had low FSH despite being amenorrhoeic; all had BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 . We found that 95% of women with HIV aged > 45 years reporting ≥ 12 months' amenorrhoea had elevated FSH, suggesting that menopausal status can be ascertained from menstrual history alone in this group.
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