Predictors of sleep quality in women in the menopausal transition.

Study Objectives: To determine associations between menopausal status, reproductive hormone levels, menopausal symptoms, and poor sleep quality.

Design: The present study examines subjective sleep quality over an 8-year period in participants in an ongoing longitudinal study of ovarian aging in a randomly identified cohort of African American and Caucasian women.

Participants: The Penn Ovarian Aging Study, a population-based cohort of 436 women from Philadelphia County who were 35 to 47 years of age and had regular menstrual cycles at enrollment.

Association of physical activity with reproductive hormones: the Penn Ovarian Aging Study.

Background: Physical activity is associated with reduced risk for breast cancer, perhaps through reductions in circulating reproductive hormones (estrogens and androgens). There may also be a role for physical activity in regulating menopausal symptoms. Few studies have examined associations of physical activity on hormone levels.