This study has shown that, independent of variations in socioeconomic status, smoking status, oral contraceptive use, or hormone therapy use, as well as other potential confounders, there was a highly significant secular trend of increase in menopausal age. The observation of a positive association between menarche and menopausal age has, to our knowledge, not previously been described.

Several cardiovascular risk factors related to lifestyle have improved in middle-aged women from the 1960s until today. Most of the positive trends are observed in women with both low and high physical activity.

Menopause ages reported at an interval of almost 20 years showed a significant correlation. However, a regression tendency of the values toward the mean was observed, suggesting that strong correlation at the group level does not imply precision at the extremes.

Objective To assess whether risk factor profiles for cardiovascular disease differed, before starting treatment, between women who would subsequently use hormone replacement therapy and those who would remain untreated.