The Massachusetts Women's Health Study: an epidemiologic investigation of the menopause.

This paper presents findings from the Massachusetts Women's Health Study (MWHS), one of the largest population-based studies of mid-aged women. A longitudinal study that followed a population-based cohort of women as they proceeded through menopause, the MWHS's goal was to describe their responses and to identify health-related, life-style, and other social factors that affect this transition. Findings indicate that natural menopause appears to have no major impact on health or health behavior. The majority of women do not seek additional help concerning menopause, and their attitudes toward it are, overwhelmingly, positive or neutral. Physicians treating mid-aged women must be careful not to confuse "menopausal" symptoms with indicators of underlying disease or conditions unrelated to menopause.