Patterns of Menopause: A Study of Certain Medical and Physiological Variables Among Caucasian and Japanese Women Living in Hawaii

Abstract

Comparisons were made between menopausal women and nonmenopausal controls among Caucasians and Japanese living in Honolulu, to investigate the extent of physical changes and clinical symptoms associated with menopause. The analysis was conducted using the multiphasic screening records of 170 menopausal cases and 162 nonmenopausal controls in Caucasians, and of 159 menopausal women and 187 nonmenopausal controls in Japanese. Discriminant function analysis was employed with relevant anthropometric, medical, and physiological variables. After adjusting for the linear and nonlinear effects of age, only surgery and medication were retained as significant discriminant variables. Discriminant functions for Caucasian and Japanese groups were not found to be significantly heterogeneous. With regard to the discrimination of the menopausal and nonmenopausal groups, the data suggested that, while no clinical conditions other than those attributable to the effects of aging were significantly associated with the menopausal state, medication and surgical procedures for female disorders were significantly related to menopause.