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The Effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy, Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels, and Other Factors on a Clock Drawing Task in Older Women
Author(s) -
PaganiniHill Annlia,
Henderson Victor W
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1996.tb03740.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hormone replacement therapy (female to male) , cholesterol , endocrinology , estrone , hormone , hormone therapy , lipoprotein , testosterone (patch) , cancer , breast cancer
OBJECTIVES: To assess the associations of a clock drawing task with hormone replacement therapy and other factors in older women. DESIGN: Group comparisons. SETTING: Leisure World Laguna Hills, a retirement community in southern California. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred ninety‐two postmenopausal women who were analyzed for lipoprotein levels in 1987–88 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; lipoprotein cholesterol levels; serum progesterone, estrone, estradiol, and steroid hormone binding globin levels; self‐reported data on smoking, alcohol intake, prior medical diagnoses, and use of certain medications including hormone replacement therapy and analgesics. RESULTS: Women with normal clocks had significantly lower total cholesterol ( P = .01), LDL cholesterol ( P = .03), and serum progesterone levels ( P = .03). They weighed, 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. CONCLUSION: The associations found here suggest that high serum cholesterol and progesterone levels might have a negative effect on clock drawing performance. Acetaminophen may also be related to worse performance on this task.