Reproductive health in female patients with systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Objectives To explore the status of reproductive health and related factors in female patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among female patients from the Chinese Organization for Scleroderma through a questionnaire. Data on the status of reproductive health including fertility condition and menstrual status were obtained. The clinical and laboratory data of SSc were collected. For patients with pregnancies after disease onset, each pregnancy was matched with a healthy control. Associations between clinical characteristics and the status of reproductive health were analysed. Results A total of 342 female patients with SSc were included, and 31.8% (108/342, 95% CI 26.9%–36.7%) of them presented problems with reproductive health. Compared with the national data, the menopausal age of patients with disease onset before menopause was earlier (45.2 ± 6.1 vs 48.2 ± 4.4, P