title: Cross-national study of women's use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in Europe.
abstract: The benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to perimenopausal and postmenopausal women are well established. Women from France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom were interviewed to determine: (1) knowledge and views of menopause and HRT; (2) history of HRT among current and lapsed users; and (3) reasons of non-users for never having taken HRT. In 1996, nearly 1,500 women aged 40 to 65 answered a short series of questions concerning menopause and HRT as part of a consumer omnibus survey; others (n = 929) participated in a focused survey of attitudes toward and use of HRT. Only one-third of perimenopausal and 13% of postmenopausal women currently were taking HRT. About 25% of postmenopausal women reported having taken HRT at some time. The proportion of perimenopausal women using HRT varied by country, and ranged from 18% in Spain to 55% in France. Importantly, about half (range across countries, 38% to 61%) of the women interviewed had not discussed menopause or its symptoms with their doctors. While levels of HRT knowledge varied by country, two-thirds of respondents overall believed they needed more information about HRT. Decisions about beginning HRT and choosing a formulation were viewed by most women as matters of personal choice, to be made with advice from a physician. In summary, despite the benefits of HRT and available choices among drug delivery options, a fairly small proportion of European women use it, largely because most remain poorly informed about the therapy. Increased physician-patient communication and public education programs are needed to provide women with the information they need to make judicious decisions concerning HRT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017698:Postmenopause