Trial results made many women stop HRT
Nearly six out of 10 women in New Zealand stopped taking hormone replacement therapy after publication of the results from the Women's Health Initiative study, according to a new survey.
The Women’s Health Initiative study published last year concluded
that use of combined oestrogen plus progestogen in healthy postmenopausal
women increased rates of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease (PJ,
13 July 2002, p43). Six months after this report researchers surveyed
734 women who had been taking HRT. Of these women, 423 (58 per cent)
had stopped taking HRT when the results were published. Older age, use
of combined HRT and long-term use of HRT (more then five years) were
factors associated with stopping therapy. Subsequently, 132 of these
women restarted therapy; 100 women restarted because of return of symptoms,
16 because they “felt better” on HRT and 15 for other reasons.
At the time of the survey, 40 per cent of women who stopped therapy when
the trial was published had not gone back on it. Most women (83 per cent)
said that they had discussed HRT with a health professional (BMJ 2003;327:845). |
