title: Factors that discriminate age at menopause: A study of Bengali Hindu women of West Bengal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to investigate the factors that discriminate different menopausal age groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  We selected 715 postmenopausal Bengali-speaking Hindu women from the State of West Bengal, India, who were married and had at least one child. We divided the participants into three groups based on the age at which they attained menopause: Group 1 (30-39 years), Group 2 (40-49 years), and Group 3 (50-55 years). A well-tested questionnaire was used to collect information on reproductive variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We applied discriminant function analysis to identify the factors associated with different ages at menopause. Results show that factors like age at menarche, duration of breastfeeding of the last child, and age at first pregnancy discriminate the different menopausal age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that reproductive factors discriminate the three different menopausal age groups for this study population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 700019, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Doyel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.affiliation: Biological Anthropological Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, 700108, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Baidyanath
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, 700019, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Subha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ray
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged