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| Research article summary (published 24 May 2009): |
Effects of the menopause transition and hormone use on cognitive performance in midlife women.
Full 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 = 0.2). EBMT delayed recall scores climbed during premenopause and postmenopause (p < or = 0.01), but did not increase during early or late perimenopause (p > or = 0.14). Initial SDMT, EBMT-immediate, and EBMT-delayed tests were 4%-6% higher among prior hormone users (p < or = 0.001). On the SDMT and EBMT, compared to the premenopausal referent, postmenopausal current hormone users demonstrated poorer cognitive performance (p < or = 0.05) but performance of postmenopausal nonhormone users was indistinguishable from that of premenopausal women. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with transitioning women's perceived memory difficulties, perimenopause was associated with a decrement in cognitive performance, characterized by women not being able to learn as well as they had during premenopause. Improvement rebounded to premenopausal levels in postmenopause, suggesting that menopause transition-related cognitive difficulties may be time-limited. Hormone initiation prior to the final menstrual period had a beneficial effect whereas initiation after the final menstrual period had a detrimental effect on cognitive performance.
Author information
Author/s: Greendale, G A (GA); Huang, M-H (MH); Wight, R G (RG); Seeman, T (T); Luetters, C (C); Avis, N E (NE); Johnston, J (J); Karlamangla, A S (AS);
Affiliation: Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10945 Le Conte Avenue, Suite 2339, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1687, USA. ggreenda(-atsign-)mednet.ucla.edu
Grants: AG012495 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; AG012505 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; AG012531 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; AG012535 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; AG012539 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; AG012546 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; AG012553 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; AG012554 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; NR004061 (Agency:NINR NIH HHS)
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Journal: Neurology (Neurology), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2009-May; vol 72 (issue 21) : pp 1850-7
Dates: Created 2009/05/27; Completed 2009/06/25;
PMID: 19470968, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 6/25/2009, IMS Date: 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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