THE EFFECTS OF HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY, LIPOPROTEIN CHOLESTEROL LEVELS, AND OTHER FACTORS ON A CLOCK DRAWING TASK IN OLDER WOMEN

OBJECTIVES: To assess the associations of a clock drawing task with ho rmone replacement therapy and other factors in older women. DESIGN: Gr oup comparisons. SETTING: Leisure World Laguna Hills, a retirement com munity in southern California. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred ninety-two po stmenopausal women tube were analyzed for lipoprotein levels in 1987-8 8 were contacted by postal survey, which included a clock drawing task , in 1992; 168 women who drew normal clocks were compared with 46 who drew abnormal or blank clocks. MEASUREMENTS: Clock drawings, lipoprote in cholesterol levels; serum progesterone, estrone, estradiol, and ste roid hormone binding globin levels; self-reported data on smoking, alc ohol intake, prior medical diagnoses, and use of certain medications i ncluding hormone replacement therapy and analgesics. RESULTS: Women wi th normal clocks had significantly lower total cholesterol (P=.01), LD L cholesterol (P=.03), and serum progesterone levels (P=.03). They wei ghed, on average, 5 more pounds at the time of last menstrual period ( P=.05), were more likely to use combined hormonal replacement therapy (P=.06), and were less likely to use acetaminophen daily (P=.02) than women with abnormal clocks. Serum estrone and estradiol levels did not differ significantly between women with normal and abnormal clocks. C ONCLUSION: The associations found here suggest that high serum cholest erol and progesterone levels might have a negative effect on clock dra wing performance. Acetaminophen may also be related to worse performan ce on this task.