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INTRODUCTION: Chinese women experience higher dementia rates than men, yet sex-specific risk factors are understudied. We examined how menopause age affects cognitive function and decline in aging Chinese women. METHODS: Data were from 7419 postmenopausal women 45-101 years of age at baseline in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS; 2011-2018). Menopause age was categorized using clinical cutoffs (55 years). Cognitive function was assessed with neuropsychological tests up to four times over 7 years, and associations were analyzed using multivariable-adjusted linear mixed-effects regression. RESULTS: Compared to menopause at 50-55 years (3661/7419; 49.3%), premature (55; 366/7419; 4.9%) were associated with lower baseline cognitive scores. Although the rate of cognitive decline did not differ significantly across menopause age groups, late menopause showed a trend toward faster decline. DISCUSSION: Cognitive health interventions should consider extreme menopausal age as a risk factor. HIGHLIGHTS: Extreme menopausal ages-premature (55)-are linked to lower baseline cognition versus menopause ages 50-55, persisting over 7 years. Cognitive disadvantage for late menopause (>55) versus 50-55 tends to increase over time. Health interventions should consider extreme menopause ages in women's cognitive health.
Guo et al. (Sat,) studied this question.