Women's Health Initiative results: a glass more empty than full.
OBJECTIVE
To give perspective to the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report.


METHODS
Review of the report with reference to other current literature.


RESULTS
Women's Health Initiative was stopped early because the hazard ratio for breast cancer, although not statistically significant, met a preset Data Safety Monitoring Board statistical parameter that mandated a recommendation to close the study. Data from study years 4 and 5 that drive the statistics developed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board may not hold equal biological significance for clinicians and their patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Women's Health Initiative has provided limited new data. Providers should resist the knee-jerk call to abandon MHT. Together, patient and provider should assess the benefit that MHT is adding/will add to each individual woman's quality of life.
Strickler
Ronald C
RC
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA. rstrick1@hfhs.org
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000401:mortality; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000401:mortality; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment