Estimation of the duration of postpartum amenorrhea in the presence of some censored data

OBJECTIVE(S) : To estimate the probabilities of the duration of postpartum amenorrhea (PPA) at various time intervals METHOD(S) : One hundred and twelve women were interviewed and 39% reporting continuance of amenorrhea on the date of interview were considered as censored cases. Survival analysis procedure using life table approach was applied. RESULTS : The median duration of PPA was 5.17 months. The effect of breast feeding practice on length of amenorrhea showed interesting findings. CONCLUSION(S) : Mean and median time of onset of menses was higher in total brast feeding women than in partial breastfeeding women, though the log-rank test showed no statistical significance. A similar pattern was observed when women reporting breast feeding at fixed time were compared with those feeding on demand.