@article{10272/18486,
year = {2020},
month = {6},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10272/18486},
abstract = {Objective
Most women live to experience menopause and will spend 4–8 years transitioning from fer-
tile age to full menstrual stop. Biologically, reproductive ageing is a continuous process, but
by convention, it is defined categorically as pre-, peri- and postmenopause; categories that
are sometimes supported by measurements of sex hormones in blood samples. We aimed
to develop and validate a new tool, a reproductive ageing score (RAS), that could give a sim-
ple and yet precise description of the status of reproductive ageing, without hormone mea-
surements, to be used by health professionals and researchers.
Methods
Questionnaire data on age, menstrual regularity and menstrual frequency was provided by
the large multicentre population-based RHINE cohort. A continuous reproductive ageing score was developed from these variables, using techniques of fuzzy mathematics, to gen-
erate a decimal number ranging from 0.00 (nonmenopausal) to 1.00 (postmenopausal). The
RAS was then validated with sex hormone measurements (follicle stimulating hormone and
17β-estradiol) and interview-data provided by the large population-based ECRHS cohort,
using receiver-operating characteristics (ROC).
Results
The RAS, developed from questionnaire data of the RHINE cohort, defined with high preci-
sion and accuracy the menopausal status as confirmed by interview and hormone data in
the ECRHS cohort. The area under the ROC curve was 0.91 (95% Confidence interval (CI):
0.90–0.93) to distinguish nonmenopausal women from peri- and postmenopausal women,
and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.83–0.88) to distinguish postmenopausal women from nonmenopausal
and perimenopausal women.
Conclusions
The RAS provides a useful and valid tool for describing the status of reproductive ageing
accurately, on a continuous scale from 0.00 to 1.00, based on simple questions and without
requiring blood sampling. The score allows for a more precise differentiation than the con-
ventional categorisation in pre-, peri- and postmenopause. This is useful for epidemiological
research and clinical trials.},
publisher = {Public Library of Science},
title = {Describing the status of reproductive ageing simply and precisely: A reproductive ageing score based on three questions and validated with hormone levels},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0235478},
author = {Triebner, Kai and Johannessen, Ane and Svanes, Cecilie and Sánchez Ramos, José Luis},
}