The method used to collect the data.

How old were you when you had your first menstrual period (menses) ?

During most of your life, were your periods regular; that is, did they occur about once a month? (Do not include any time when you were pregnant or taking birth control pills.)

How old were you when your periods first became regular? (Your best guess.)

How old were you when you last had regular menstrual bleeding (a period)? (Your best guess.) (If you are still having regular bleeding or periods, enter your current age.)

Between the time you had your first period and your last period, did you ever go without any periods for at least one year? (Do not count times when you were pregnant or breastfeeding).

Between your first menstrual period and your last, all together, about how long did you go without having your period? (Again, do not count times when you were pregnant or breastfeeding.) (Mark one oval.)

How old were you when you last had any menstrual bleeding? (If you are still having menstrual bleeding or periods, enter your current age.)

Have you ever had menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes or night sweats? (Your best guess.)

How old were you when you first had symptoms such as hot flashes or night sweats? (Your best guess.)

How old were you when you last had symptoms such as hot flashes or night sweats? (If you are still having symptoms such as hot flashes or night sweats, enter your current age.)

Have you ever been pregnant? It is very important that we know about all of your pregnancies, including live births, stillbirths, miscarriages, tubals (ectopics), and abortions.

How many times have you been pregnant?

Did you ever have a pregnancy that lasted at least six months?

How many of these pregnancies did you have?

How old were you at the end of the first of these pregnancies?

How old were you at the end of the last of these pregnancies?

How many live births did you have?

How many still births (from a pregnancy lasting 6 months or more) did you have?

How many spontaneous miscarriages did you have?

How many tubal (ectopic) pregnancies did you have?

Have you ever tried to become pregnant for more than 1 year without becoming pregnant?

Did you visit a doctor or clinic because you didn't get pregnant?

Was a reason found for why you did not become pregnant?

What was the reason you did not become pregnant? (Mark all that apply.) Problem with your hormones or ovulation (producing eggs)

What was the reason you did not become pregnant? (Mark all that apply.) Problem with your tubes or uterus.

What was the reason you did not become pregnant? (Mark all that apply.) Endometriosis

What was the reason you did not become pregnant? (Mark all that apply.) Other problem with you. (Specify)

What was the reason you did not become pregnant? (Mark all that apply.) Problem in your partner.

What was the reason you did not become pregnant? (Mark all that apply.) Don't know.

Did you breastfeed or nurse any children for at least one month?

How many children did you breastfeed?

How old were you when you first breastfed a child?

How old were you when you last breastfed a child?

Thinking aboout all the children you breastfed, how many months total did you breastfeed? (Your best guess.)

Did you ever have an operation to have one or both of your ovaries taken out? (Mark one oval.)

How old were you when you had your last operation to remove an ovary?

Did you ever have an operation to have your tubes tied to prevent pregnancy?

How old were you when you had your tubes tied?

Have you ever had a needle aspiration (where a doctor puts a needle in a lump in your breast and withdraws fluid or material)?

How many of these needle aspirations have you had?

Have you ever had a breast biopsy (where a doctor removes part or all of breast lump to check for cancer)?

How many of these biopsies have you had?

Did you ever have an operation to increase your breast size (breast augmentation) or have breast reconstruction using a breast implant?

How old were you when you first had breast augmentation?

Was it for the right breast, left breast or both?

What type of breast implant did you receive?

Have you ever had any other operations on your breasts?

What type of other breast operations did you have? (Mark all that apply.) Removal of part of breast or breast reduction

What type of other breast operations did you have? (Mark all that apply.) Removal of one breast.

What type of other breast operations did you have? (Mark all that apply.) Removal of both breasts

What type of other breast operations did you have? (Mark all that apply.) Other (Specify)

Computed from Form 31, questions 7 and 7.1. Number of times the participant has ever been pregnant.

Computed from Form 31, questions 7, 7.6 and 7.7. Number of pregnancies lasting at least 6 months. Equals -1 if never pregnant.

Computed from Form 31, questions 7.2, 7.6 and 7.7. Indicator variable of whether the participant has ever had a full-term (lasting at least six months) pregnancy. Missing if never pregnant.

Computed from Form 31, questions 7 and 7.6. Categorical variable of number of live births. Equals -1 if never pregnant.

Computed from Form 31, questions 7, 7.1, 7.6-7.9. Indicator for whether the participant ever had an induced abortion. The number of induced abortions was estimated by subtracting the number of live births, stillbirths, miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies from total number of pregnancies. Missing if never pregnant.

Computed from Form 31, questions 7, 7.2, and 7.4. Categorization of age at the end of first full-term (at least 6 months) pregnancy for participants who have ever been pregnant. Set to zero if participant has been pregnant but never had a full-term pregnancy.

Computed from Form 31, question 10. Indicator for whether participant has had both ovaries taken out (bilateral oopherectomy).

Computed from Form 31, questions 9 and 9.4. Total number of months breastfed or nursed children for at least one month. Set to zero if participant never breastfed or has never been pregnant.

Computed from Form 31, questions 13 and 13.1; Form 2, question 10; and Form 30, question 12.1. History of benign breast disease derived from number of breast biopsies. If a participant has a history of breast cancer recorded on either Form 2 or Form 30, BRSTDIS is set to missing.

Age at which participant went through menopause. Computed using Form 31, questions 5, 6.1, 10, 10.1; Form 2, questions 7, 18, 18.2; Form 43 (age first used HRT). See Menopause Algorithm for detail on how this is computed.