Thesis (M. D. S.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M.D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Pathology. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 269-285). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Background and Objectives Menopause is a natural transition, an important life event that represents the end of reproductive phase in women at age of 50. Menopausal symptoms or hormone replacement treatment (HRT) may influence women’s quality of life (QOL). Different health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scales are developed to demonstrate the effects of menopausal symptoms or treatment. The aim of this review is to identify the menopause-related measures and evaluate the psychometric properties of these scales. Method Literature search using the keyword: “menopause” or “menopausal” or “perimenopausal” or “climacteric symptoms” or “vasomotor symptoms” AND “menopause-related quality of life measures” or “menopause-related quality of life instruments” or “menopausal health-related quality of life measures” or “menopausal health-related quality of life instruments” or “menopause-related health status measurement” or “menopause-related health functioning” AND “women”. Results Total 5 menopause-related quality of life measures were identified: -the MENCAV Quality of Life Scale (MENCAV) -Menopause-specific QOL Questionnaire (MENQOL) -Menopause-specific QOL Questionnaire-Intervention (MENQOL-Intervention) -Menopausal Quality of Life Scale (MQOL) -Utian Quality of Life Scale (UQOL) All measurement scales have good internal consistency shown. Construct validity was reported in all measures. Known-groups validity was evaluated in MQOL and MENCAV. Content validity was shown in MQOL and UQOL by focus group meeting with menopausal women. Construct validity was reported in all measures. Convergent validity was reported in MQOL, MENCAV, UQOL and MENQOL-Intervention, the relationships between scores were evaluated. Discriminant validity was assessed in MENQOL. All measures reviewed either convergent or discriminant validity and no measure reviewed both. All measures except UQOL have reported responsiveness. Conclusion MENCAV is the best measure and supposed to be the most updated one developed in 2008. This measure is not as popular as UQOL, MENQOL etc. It demonstrated the highest psychometric quality score in this review. Standardization of measurement scales for comparison of the menopausal symptoms and QOL can reduce the anxiety of participants who answer different questionnaires with same domain. Further research on extensive psychometric evaluation across ethnicities may be beneficial to menopausal women. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Approximately 1% of women will experience menopause before the age of 40, a condition known as premature ovarian failure (POF). The goal of this thesis was to identify genetic causes of POF by examining a number of candidate factors in POF patients and control women. Carriers of FMR1 premutations (55-200 CGG repeats) are known to be at increased risk of POF. A higher prevalence of alleles between 35-54 repeats was found among POF patients (p=0.01), suggesting that risk for POF may extend outside the classic premutation range. There was no evidence for any difference in FMRI promoter methylation or gene expression between cases and controls. Allele distributions of gene polymorphisms in the androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor (ß, sex hormone binding globulin, and FSH receptor genes did not differ between POF patients and controls. However, haplotype at the estrogen receptor a gene, ESRI, was found to be associated with POF in a simple dominant manner (RR=9.7; 95% CI=2.6-35.6). Although the functional effect of this haplotype could not be confirmed, it may confer a more active promoter that influences risk by increasing the rate of follicular atresia. X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) skewing can indicate an abnormal X chromosome and may therefore be increased in POF patients. There was no increase in skewed XCI >90% in patients with secondary amenorrhea, however, there was a significant increase in 4 POF patients with primary amenorrhea (p=0.001). No X-chromosome abnormalities were detectable by high resolution DNA microarray, and skewed XCI may be explained by a trisomic rescue event causing reduced follicular pool. Age-related chromosome factors were assessed to determine if POF patients demonstrate an increased rate of cellular aging. With age, XCI skewing and AR methylation increase and telomere length decreases. There was no difference in skewing or methylation between patients and controls. Surprisingly telomere length was increased in POF patients (p=0.04), a finding that may be explained by abnormal estrogen exposure. Genotype at the longevity-associated APOE gene was not associated with POF. In conclusion, these findings have illuminated several new areas of research in this field and provide background for future research into POF pathogenesis.

No description available.

Approximately 1% of women will experience menopause before the age of 40, a condition known as premature ovarian failure (POF). The goal of this thesis was to identify genetic causes of POF by examining a number of candidate factors in POF patients and control women. Carriers of FMR1 premutations (55-200 CGG repeats) are known to be at increased risk of POF. A higher prevalence of alleles between 35-54 repeats was found among POF patients (p=0.01), suggesting that risk for POF may extend outside the classic premutation range. There was no evidence for any difference in FMRI promoter methylation or gene expression between cases and controls. Allele distributions of gene polymorphisms in the androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor (ß, sex hormone binding globulin, and FSH receptor genes did not differ between POF patients and controls. However, haplotype at the estrogen receptor a gene, ESRI, was found to be associated with POF in a simple dominant manner (RR=9.7; 95% CI=2.6-35.6). Although the functional effect of this haplotype could not be confirmed, it may confer a more active promoter that influences risk by increasing the rate of follicular atresia. X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) skewing can indicate an abnormal X chromosome and may therefore be increased in POF patients. There was no increase in skewed XCI >90% in patients with secondary amenorrhea, however, there was a significant increase in 4 POF patients with primary amenorrhea (p=0.001). No X-chromosome abnormalities were detectable by high resolution DNA microarray, and skewed XCI may be explained by a trisomic rescue event causing reduced follicular pool. Age-related chromosome factors were assessed to determine if POF patients demonstrate an increased rate of cellular aging. With age, XCI skewing and AR methylation increase and telomere length decreases. There was no difference in skewing or methylation between patients and controls. Surprisingly telomere length was increased in POF patients (p=0.04), a finding that may be explained by abnormal estrogen exposure. Genotype at the longevity-associated APOE gene was not associated with POF. In conclusion, these findings have illuminated several new areas of research in this field and provide background for future research into POF pathogenesis.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-46).