The Blatt-Kupperman menopausal index: a critique

The Blatt-Kupperman menopausal index has been used widely in studies of climacteric symptoms, but it now needs to be reassessed. The original index was derived from clinical experience in New York in the 1950s. The index was a combination of self report and physician ratings; it omitted measures of vaginal dryness and loss of libido; no demographic data of the sample were given; weighting was used without statistical justification; terms were ill defined; categories included overlapping scores, and most importantly scores were summed without being based on independent factors. Modern psychometrics has led to the publication of reliable and valid scales. These should be used in climacteric research in preference to the Blatt-Kupperman index.