Effects of the menopause transition and hormone use on cognitive performance in midlife women.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is almost no longitudinal information about measured cognitive performance during the menopause transition (MT).

Methods

We studied 2,362 participants from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation for 4 years. Major exposures were time spent in MT stages, hormone use prior to the final menstrual period, and postmenopausal current hormone use. Outcomes were longitudinal performance in three domains: processing speed (Symbol Digit Modalities Test [SDMT]), verbal memory (East Boston Memory Test [EBMT]), and working memory (Digit Span Backward).

Results

Premenopausal, early perimenopausal, and postmenopausal women scored higher with repeated SDMT administration (p < or = 0.0008), but scores of late perimenopausal women did not improve over time (p =

SUBMITTER: Greendale GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2690984 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature