Table 3.

Participant characteristics of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women aged 50–59 yr

Variable	Early Peri	Late Peri	Early Post	Late Post	P
n	9	12	27	9
Age (yr)	52 ± 2	52 ± 2	55 ± 2	57 ± 2	<0.001
Body mass (kg)	63.6 ± 6.3	68.2 ± 15.7	71.3 ± 13.2	72.5 ± 14.1	0.42
BMI (kg/m2)	23.7 ± 2.6	24.8 ± 5.0	26.7 ± 4.7	28.4 ± 5.4	0.12
Total body fat (%)	30 ± 5	36 ± 7	38 ± 6	40 ± 5	0.006
Waist circumference (cm)	78 ± 6	82 ± 15	86 ± 14	86 ± 13	0.46
WHR	0.80 ± 0.07	0.80 ± 0.08	0.82 ± 0.09	0.80 ± 0.05	0.81
Systolic BP (mm Hg)	111 ± 12	120 ± 14	118 ± 14	118 ± 16	0.53
Diastolic BP (mm Hg)	72 ± 3	76 ± 3	73 ± 2	74 ± 3	0.82
Total cholesterol (mg/dl)	166 ± 24	173 ± 41	192 ± 32	194 ± 30	0.11
LDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	101 ± 27	106 ± 38	113 ± 28	119 ± 26	0.54
HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	48 ± 6	50 ± 7	55 ± 16	54 ± 13	0.52
Triglycerides (mg/dl)a	81 (68–99)	94 (56–112)	85 (69–149)	101 (78–129)	0.55
Fasting insulin (μIU/ml)	4.9 ± 4.1	5.1 ± 2.8	10.1 ± 7.8	9.9 ± 10.8	0.11
Fasting glucose (mg/dl)	85 ± 4	80 ± 10	88 ± 10	87 ± 9	0.09
FSH (μIU/ml)	15.3 ± 24.6	80.5 ± 34.5	77.2 ± 29.8	89.7 ± 24.4	<0.001
Estradiol (pg/ml)a	98 (43–137)	28 (10–92)	13 (10–19)	15 (10–19)	<0.001
Progesterone (ng/ml)a	0.6 (0.3–0.6)	0.4 (0.3–0.6)	0.3 (0.1–0.5)	0.3 (0.1–0.4)	0.06
Estrone (ng/dl)	54 ± 10	43 ± 9	28 ± 6	31 ± 10	0.002
SHBG (nmol/liter)	86 ± 52	72 ± 41	65 ± 41	67 ± 32	0.60
Testosterone (ng/dl)b	22 (17–37)	20 (17–24)	18 (17–30)	25 (17–53)	0.27
ET-1 (pg/ml)	5.8 ± 1.4	6.4 ± 1.9	6.4 ± 1.6	6.0 ± 1.2	0.72
Norepinephrine (pg/ml)b	271 ± 60	264 ± 123	291 ± 155	273 ± 134	0.95
LTPA (MET h/wk)a,b	17.4 (5.0–30.5)	12.9 (5.8–22.7)	9.5 (5.2–20.0)	6.3 (3.1–9.2)	0.12
VO2peak (ml/kg · min)b	28.1 ± 5.0	27.8 ± 6.8	24.7 ± 3.3	22.8 ± 5.1	0.09

Data are mean ± sd, unless otherwise indicated. Peri, Perimenopausal; Post, postmenopausal; BP, Blood pressure; LTPA, leisure time physical activity; MET, metabolic equivalent; VO_2peak, peak aerobic power.

^aData are median (interquartile range).

^bSample size of 45.