Clinical and laboratory assessment

Baseline characteristics, such as medication use (e.g., antidiabetic, antihypertensive, or lipid-lowering agents), underlying diseases (diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia), smoking history, amount of physical activity, alcohol consumption, and reproductive characteristics (age at menarche, parity, age at first delivery, and menopausal status) were recorded during a medical interview using a structured questionnaire before a routine gynecologic examination. Anthropometric parameters (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and blood pressure (BP)), and biochemical results (fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol) were retrospectively reviewed for each individual, as previously described.