Association of Female Reproductive Factors with depression and suicidal ideation in postmenopausal women: Evidence from NHANES 2007–2018

Objective

This cross-sectional research aimed to examine how reproductive factors influence depression and suicidal ideation among postmenopausal women.

Methods

Data from the 2007 to 2018 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed for this study. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was adopted to measure depression and suicidal ideation in the participants.

Results

Out of 3076 participants, 9.5% (348/3076) experienced depression, and 3.4% (128/3076) reported suicidal ideation. Following the adjustment for confounding factors, premature menopause (OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.03–3.15) was significantly associated with an increased risk of depression. Moreover, postmenopausal women with a higher number of pregnancies exhibited a greater risk of depression (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.09–1.53; P < 0.001). Conversely, a longer reproductive lifespan (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93–0.99) and a higher number of livebirths (OR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.54–0.86; P < 0.001) were linked to a decreased risk of depression. Furthermore, the use of oral contraceptives (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.28–0.97; P = 0.021) was significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of experiencing suicidal ideation, while the number of livebirths (OR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.48–0.97; P = 0.018) exhibited a negative correlation with suicidal ideation.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that reproductive factors are significantly associated with the risk of depression and suicidal ideation in postmenopausal women. Further longitudinal studies with repeated measures of depression are necessary to establish causal relationships.