A VALIDATION-STUDY ON STATUS AND AGE OF NATURAL MENOPAUSE REPORTED INTHE E3N COHORT

The accuracy of self-reported menopausal status and age at menopause h as been analysed in a validation study using the gynecologist's medica l records as the reference. Concordance between the two sources for me nopausal status was assessed in 151 women. The kappa coefficient obtai ned was 0.85 (95% CI, 0.69-1.00). Agreement on age at menopause was te sted in 57 women and the kappa coefficient obtained was 0.64 (95% CI, 0.34-0.94). Age at menopause was accurately reported by 32% of the sub jects. This percentage increased to 69 and 86% when agreement within 1 and 2 year(s) was considered, respectively. These results suggest tha t women can provide data on their natural menopause history with suffi cient accuracy to test some hypotheses associating this event with the evolution of their health status. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science ireland L td. All rights reserved.