SINDH UNIVERSITY RESEARCH JOURNAL (SCIENCE SERIES) Association of Anthropometric Measurements with pre and post Menopausal women: A survey based cross sectional study . J. WARSI ++ , Z. A. PALH** M. R. QAMBRANI***, S.U.J.O. MEGHWAR* Department of Physiology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan Received 12 th August 2017 and Revised 06 th January 2018 1. INTRODUCTION The menstrual cycle is the rhythmic changes in hormones occurs every month in the female reproductive system particularly in uterus and in ovaries which is the preparation for pregnancy (Sharma, et al., 2016). Menarche is the first menstrual period usually occurs at the age of 13 (Abdulla and Ibraheem, 2010). Menstruation is a monthly shedding of endometrial walls leading to discharge of blood usually after every 28 days (Sharma et al., 2016). The average bleeding last for approximately 5 days (Chiou, et al., 2007). Menopause is the time when ovaries stop producing eggs because of hormonal fluctuations; however different definitions are existing (Gracia et al., 2005).The onset of menopause in west is between 40 to 61 (Minkin and Wright, 1997), in India median age is 44 (Ringa, 2000) while in Pakistan the mean age is 47.7 (Yahya and Rehan, 2002). The menopause transition is associated with obesity, blood pressure and metabolic syndrome (Kuh et al., 2005), furthermore elevated blood pressure was reported in pre menopausal woman than post menopause (Trémollières, et al., 1999) however some other studies could not show rise in blood pressure in menopause transition (Kuh et al., 2005). Total cholesterol level was reported high at the time of onset of menopause (Bittner, 2002) However the association of cardiovascular risk factors with onset of menopause is debatable (Barrett-Connor, 2003; Barrett-Connor and Bush, 1991), moreover HbA1c is a reliable indicator to estimate blood glucose level particularly in menopausal women, higher level of HbA1c (glycosylated hemoglobin) was reported in post menopausal women (Chang et al., 2000) (Simon, et al., 1989). The anthropometric indicators: increase waist-hip ratio was associated with menopause transition (Gaspard, et al., 1995) The association of waist to hip ratio is already established with the especial reference to breast cancer (Huang et al., 1999). BMI was strongly associated with pre, peri and post menopausal women (Akahoshi et al., 2002; Kuh et al., 2005). The premenopausal women had less waist circumference and less waist to hip ratio than postmenopausal women (Donato, et al., 2006). The present study thus explored whether the anthropometric indicators in pre and post menopausal women are consistent with the rest of the world in typical Pakistani scenario. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS A survey based cross sectional study was carried out from June 2016 to November 2016 (06 months). The sample area was District Hyderabad rural and urban population (Sindh, Pakistan). A self designed questionnaire was administered to the female aged between 40- 60 years. The sample comprises of all marital status groups (single, married and divorced). Sindh Univ. Res. Jour. (Sci. Ser.) Vol. 50 (001) 119-122 (2018) Abstract: Anthropometric measurements are the litmus during the transition of any woman from normal menstrual cycle to menopause. Several changes occur in the body during this transition from change of body shape to hormonal fluctuations, from social status to psychological and neurological alterations. The present study thus explored the pre and post menopausal changes in the anthropometric indicators and its significance level. Methodology: A survey based cross sectional study was carried out. Total 190 female aged 40-60, were randomly selected from the district Hyderabad. Results: age, weight, BMI and WC (in rural, urban and accumulative) in post menopausal women are significantly less (p=0.0001, p=0.01, p=0.004 and p=0.01 respectively) than those who were having normal menstrual cycles. Waist to height ratio (WHtR), height, Bicep and triceps measurements were not significantly different in the aforementioned groups. Conclusion: In a representative study of woman, the natural transition is strongly associated with decrease in BMI (Body Mass Index), WC (Waist circumference) and weight. Keywords: menopause, cross sectional study, BMI. ++ Correspondence to: phone: +92-22-9213227 e-mail : jamshed.warsi@usindh.edu.pk *Department of Physiology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan **Department of Fresh Water Biology and Fisheries, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan *** University of Sindh, Jamshoro http://doi.org/10.26692/sujo/2018.01.0020