Rejuvenation at women's first menstrual period linked to chronic pain, study reports

Women who were younger at their first menstrual period (menarche) were more likely to report chronic pain in adulthood, reports a study in Pain, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)

"We found a strong link between age at menarche and chronic pain outcomes in adult women," according to new research by Charlotte Indre Lund, PhD, Epidemiology at Oslo University Hospital, and colleagues

Early menarche is associated with higher incidence and longer duration of chronic pain

The study included data from more than 12,000 women (average age 55) who participated in the Tromsø Study, an ongoing population-based study of population health in northern Norway

Women at a younger age at menarche are more likely to suffer from chronic pain

Older age at menarche was associated with lower rates of chronic pain across the 10 assessed body regions, with the strongest associations with chest pain and abdominal pain

According to the most recently updated criteria, the prevalence of chronic widespread pain (CWP) was 7.

Gender differences in chronic pain are well known, with women having higher rates of chronic pain than men

Based on these new findings, the researchers concluded: "Marche is an independent risk factor for chronic pain, site-specific chronic pain, and chronic generalized pain, and thus helps explain gender differences in pain