title: The perceptions of menopause of African-American and white women and affect on willingness to participate in a HRT clinical trial.
abstract: Menopause is a normal developmental process for women; however, few studies of healthy menopausal women and African-American women have been reported. While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been touted as a treatment for menopausal women, clinical trials of HRT still need to be conducted to determine its potential positive and negative effects. This is a focus group study of 21 women of menopausal age (11 African-Americans and 10 White women) to determine their experiences with menopause and their willingness to participate in a HRT clinical trial. Results indicated generally positive attitudes toward menopause and a variety of symptoms of varying degrees of severity in African-American and White women. Limited knowledge about menopause and HRT were apparent; however, White women were more likely to be receiving HRT and were more informed about HRT than African-American women. White women also were more positive about participating in a HRT clinical trial than African-American women who feared cancer as a potential side effect.
authors.affiliation: Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta VA Medical Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: O L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Strickland
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Dunbar
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000523:psychology*; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D018579:Patient Selection; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000208:ethnology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D014930:Women / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*