Biomedical subjects

John Taffe

Publications and source records attributed to John Taffe.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Hormones, mood, sexuality, and the menopausal transition.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent of changes in women's sexual functioning and well-being during the menopausal transition and the relationship to hormonal changes. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Population-based sample assessed at home. PATIENT(S): 438 Australian-born women 45-55 of years who were still menstruating at baseline. Of these, 226 were studied for effects of hormones on sexual functioning. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Short Personal Experiences Questionnaire (SPEQ) and Affectometer 2 scores and annual blood sampling. RESULT(S): From the early to late menopausal transition, the percentage of women with SPEQ scores indicating sexual dysfunction increased from 42% to 88%. Mood scores did not change significantly. In the early menopausal transition, women with low total SPEQ scores had lower estradiol level but similar androgen levels to those with higher scores. Decreasing SPEQ scores correlated with decreasing estradiol level but not with androgen levels. Hormone levels were not related to mood scores. CONCLUSION(S): Female sexual functioning declines with the natural menopausal transition. This decline relates more to decreasing estradiol levels than to androgen levels.

Affect↗

PubMed2002

Time to the final menstrual period.

OBJECTIVE: To determine, for a woman aged >45 years, whether selected hormonal, health status, and demographic measures are related to the time to final menstrual period (FMP) from a point where 6 weeks separate the shortest and longest cycles experienced to date. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: Volunteers in an academic research environment. PATIENT(S): Ninety-nine menstruating women aged 46 years to 55 years on entry completed menstrual diaries, gave annual blood samples, and were interviewed annually. They were observed for a mean period of 1.5 years. Seventy-seven reached FMP during observation. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Time to reach FMP from the date of a marker event-the difference between the longest and shortest of recent cycles reaching 6 weeks. RESULT(S): Women self-rating as in the transition have a greater "hazard" or probability of FMP at any time after the marker event. Allowing for this and other covariates, the hazard is estimated to increase by 30% (confidence interval [CI]: 10%, 60%) for each year of age and 50% (CI: 7%, 118%) for each unit increase in log FSH, measured at the time of the marker event. CONCLUSION(S): For women aged >45 years, the time remaining in the menopausal transition from the day on which >or=6 weeks separate the longest and shortest recent cycles is related to self-rating of menopausal status and to serum FSH level. The median number of months remaining ranges from 11 for those with FSH of >20 IU/L and who see themselves as in transition to 21 months for those with lower FSH and who notice little evidence of being in transition.

Bone Density↗

PubMed2002

Menstrual diary data and menopausal transition: methodologic issues.

OBJECTIVES: To identify problems arising in the analysis of menstrual diary data in a longitudinal study of the menopausal transition, and to propose solutions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Menstrual diary information provided by 372 women over a period 7 years is the basis of the study. This paper considers the processes and decisions associated with transforming this information into a form suitable for answering research questions. RESULTS: We decided to use 'cycle' as the unit of analysis and to regard spotting-only episodes as nonmenstrual bleeding. Difficulties in distinguishing between long cycles and gaps because of recording lapses are shown to be related to both the design of the menstrual diary cards and the procedures used by fieldworkers. A new design that should minimize such difficulties is presented. Procedural changes are also proposed. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to minimize uncertainty about the meaning of gaps in menstrual diary data, especially in studies of the menopausal transition. Methodologic improvements that can help to achieve this aim include design of diary cards and fieldwork procedures to reduce uncertainty. The design of data entry interfaces to facilitate the checking of raw data and the use of graphs as a diagnostic tool are other important steps.

Australia↗