Compliance to estrogen treatment one to three years after hysterectomy and bilateral salpingooophorectomy. The cohort's lifestyle, knowledge of ERT, benefits etc.
BACKGROUND
To determine compliance to Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) initiated at discharge from a gynecological department in perimenopausal women having had hysterectomy (hyst.) and bilateral salpingooophorectomy (BSO) for benign disease. To investigate this cohort's knowledge and attitude to ERT, lifestyle issues, sources of information etc.


METHODS
A questionnaire was sent to the patients 1-3 years after discharge (April 1993 to December 1994).


RESULTS
Eighty-eight patients were identified and returned the questionnaire. Seventy-nine were included in the statistics. Eighty-nine percent were still compliant to treatment. Forty-two percent received their information about ERT from newspapers/magazines and 17%) from GPs. Ninety percent knew that ERT prevented osteoporosis, 33% knew about the positive effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD). Sixty-nine percent believed that ERT increased the risk of breast cancer and 74% anticipated an increase in quality of life.


CONCLUSIONS
Even though not offered any follow-up visits, 89% of this cohort was still on ERT 1-3 years after hyst. and BSO. This high rate of compliance might be due to initiation of treatment during hospitalization with the information given at discharge combined with a low rate of side effects of ERT. The women's primary source of information was newspapers/ magazines, and they were aware of the benefits of ERT on climacteric symptoms and osteoporosis but not so much the benefits on CVD. The major concerns were the risk of breast cancer and weight gain.
Hée
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Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Centralsygehuset i Naestved, Denmark.
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D010052:Ovariectomy; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires