Lifestyle factors were assessed in terms of presence/absence, amount and/or frequency. For example, physical activity was measured in terms of times per week, ranging from ‘none’ to ‘more than four times per week’. Current smokers were women reporting to smoke one or more cigarettes per day.
Natural menopause was defined as at least 12 consecutive months of amenorrhea [1]. According to the STRAW (stages of reproductive aging workshop criteria) classification [16], stages of menopausal women were categorized and defined as follows: premenopause: minor changes in Veliparib length particularly decreasing length of the menstrual cycle. Perimenopause: a variable cycle length (a difference from ‘usual’ of more than 7 days) or had missed two or more cycles and had an episode of amenorrhea lasting over 60 days. Postmenopause: no menstrual bleeding during the past 12 months (at least 12 months of amenorrhea).
A cumulative symptom score, the Kupperman Menopausal Index (Supplementary Table 2) [17], was used to evaluate the severity and intensity of the menopausal symptoms. For each subject, a total KMI score was generated by summing up the score given for each of the 13 symptoms. Participants were considered as symptomatic with the total scoring higher than 6 points [18].
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Distribution patterns Although both species are considered
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