title: Hormone use and cognitive performance in women of advanced age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the association between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and cognitive performance in a group of elderly women (>/=75) using a battery of well-standardized neuropsychological instruments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Equivalent samples from existing cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthcare provider organization.
  
  
  METHODS
  All women enrolled were participants in an ongoing study of the association between HRT and the prevalence and incidence of dementia. Prescription records were used to establish HRT status. Fifty-eight users and 47 nonusers of HRT participated in this substudy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Given previous reports that HRT has a positive effect on verbal memory, the California Verbal Learning Test and the Logical Memory Test were used as primary outcomes. A range of validated tests that assess other cognitive domains was also included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences between users and nonusers of HRT on any cognitive measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given equivalent groups of users and nonusers of HRT no support was found for the hypothesis that use of HRT improves cognitive performance in older women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Evaluation, Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Pasadena, California 91101, USA. galen.x.buckwalter@kp.org
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galen Buckwalter
authors.forename: Valerie C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Crooks
authors.forename: Sean B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.forename: Diana B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Petitti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens