22 Section AGEING and SENESCENCE CHANGES OF THE GENERAL BONE STATUS IN THE MENOPAUSE TRANSITION Utczas Katinka, Zsбkai Annamбria, Bodzsбr Йva Department of Biological Anthropology, Eцtvцs Lorбnd University, Budapest, Hungary The purpose of the research was to study the relationship between the menopausal status (estimated by the reproductive and menstrual history as well as the level of female sex hormones) and the general bone status (characterized by bone structure and bone mass) in Hungarian women. <...> By considering the reproductive and menstrual history subjects were divided into premenopausal, early perimenopausal, late perimenopausal and postmenopausal subgroups. <...> In a subsample of 150 subjects salivary estrogen and progesterone levels were determined by 17 beta-Estradiol Saliva Elisa and Progesterone ELISA immunoassays. <...> Bone mass was estimated by Drinkwater-Ross four-component method. <...> The bone SOS and BUA bone structural parameters were assessed by using the DTU-one osteometer. <...> Hypotheses were tested at the 5% level of random error. <...> By comparing the menopausal status estimation methods in the studied subsample, the reproductive and menstrual history was found to be a more reliable estimator of the menopausal status than the sex hormone levels (that are having considerable daily fl uctuation also in a normal menstrual cycle) determination. <...> Former epidemiological studies suggest that the menopause transition is associated with signifi cant changes in bone structure. <...> Our results evidenced these signifi cant changes in body structure by reproductive ageing in women, but an important shift between the changes in bone mass and the bone structural parameters (SOS and BUA) was found. <...> This could imply that (1) bone system changes not only in its absolute mass, but also in its structure in the perimenopausal period, and (2) the onset of these bone structural changes in the skeletal system and the intensity of these changes differ in the menopause transition. <...> The study was supported by the Hungarian National Foundation for Science (OTKA grant K83966). <...> Key words: menopause, body structure, bone mass; Hungarian women Contact information: Zsбkai Annamбria, e-mail: zsakaia@caesar.elte.hu. <...> PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIATION ASSOCIATED WITH FRAILTY AMONG OLDER RESIDENTS OF HIGHER ALTITUDE VILLAGES OF THE SELŠKA VALLEY Vidovič Maruška1 , Sharron Genevieve2 , Crews Douglas2 1National Institute of Public Health <...>