<qa>  How many postmenopausal women were randomly allocated into three groups?Treatment Groups Of the 100 women initially evaluated, 32 did not meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria, while eight refused to participate, giving a final total of 60 patients for inclusion in the study. The sixty postmenopausal women were randomly allocated into three groups: Group I: control group comprising 20 patients no hormonal treatment; Group II: also comprising 20 patients, to whom a continuous combined treatment with drospirenone 2 mg and 17β-estradiol 1 mg DRSPE2 will be administered daily; and Group III: also comprising 20 patients, to whom treatment with tibolone 1.25 mg Tib will be administered daily. All treatments will be administered for a 24-week period. DRSPE2 was purchased from Bayer Schering PharmaTM, Brazil and Tib from BiolabTM, Brazil. The duration of the treatment will be 6 cycles, each lasting a period of 28 days conducted for a total of 24 weeks. Randomization will be done with the aid of computer software in order to prevent bias in the selection process. 