title: Age and symptom experience at menopause in the Selska Valley, Slovenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess age and symptom experience at menopause in a high-altitude population in the Selska Valley of Slovenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In four mountain villages, all houses were approached and 80% of eligible residents were interviewed. Additional women were interviewed for comparison in the valley below. Age at interview ranged from 32.7 to 85.5 years, with a mean of 58.2 years. The majority of women (62%) were aged 40 to 65 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 58 women interviewed, 7 had undergone menopause by hysterectomy (12%). Recalled age at natural menopause ranged from 42 to 54, with a mean of 50.3 (SD 2.9). By probit analysis, median age at natural menopause was 52.03. Fifty-five percent of participants reported ever having experienced a hot flash, although only 24% reported hot flashes during the 2 weeks before being interviewed. When the sample was limited to women aged 40 to 65, frequency of hot flashes in the 2 weeks before the interview was 39%. For all participants, the most frequent complaint was lack of energy (66%), followed by backaches (59%), and joint stiffness (53%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In contrast to expectations, age at menopause was not earlier and hot flash frequency was not significantly lower at higher elevations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology and the University Without Walls, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003-9278, USA. leidy@anthro.umass.edu
authors.forename: Lynnette Leidy
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Sievert
authors.forename: Maruska
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vidovic
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horak
authors.forename: Marge
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000531:Altitude; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking