Abstract
The aim of the present study is to analyze the morphologic changes occurring along the period of a woman's life thatareknown as climacterium. Our sample consists of 648 women from different provinces of Cuba, but who lived in Havana for at least 15 years. Morphological variables such as height, weight, biliocristal and biachromial diameters and six subcutaneous fat skinfolds were measured.
With regard to the menopausic condition, the sample was divided into three subpopulations: premenopausic, naturally menopausic and surgically menopausic (when the two ovaries had been removed). Age at menopause was calculated by both the “retrospective” (49.45±0.49) and “status quo” (48.83±0.02) methods.
The results obtained point towards morphological differences between pre- and postmenopausic women. We observed greater accumulations of fatty tissue in the suprailiac regions of postmenopausal females. Lean body mass represents a bigger fraction of the total body weight in women who are still menstruating. In the case of surgically menopausic women, they are at a mid-distance between the premenopausic and naturally menopausic subpopulations.
A discriminant analysis was carried out which confirmed the results previously observed. From this analysis it appeared the body mass index and the subcutaneous skinfolds are the variables that discriminante, that is, separate, the three subsamples.
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Carmenate, M.M., Martínez, A.M., Prado, C. et al. Morphological changes related to the climateric period of the adult Cuban women. Int. J. Anthropol. 14, 219–226 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447631
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447631