title: Impact of the women's health initiative trial results on hormone replacement therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the impact of the results of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) discontinuation rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  University-based family medicine clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-eight postmenopausal women (aged 50-79 yrs) with an intact uterus who were receiving HRT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two study periods were defined: pre-WHI (July 9, 2001-January 9, 2002) and post-WHI (July 9, 2002-January 9, 2003). Patient demographics and HRT discontinuation or persistence data were collected. Seven women were eligible for only for pre-WHI, 13 only for post-WHI, and 78 were eligible for both groups based on HRT use during both time periods. Forty-two of the 78 women were randomized to the pre-WHI group and 36 to the post-WHI group to yield equal groups of 49 each. No significant demographic differences existed between the groups. Time-to-event analysis revealed an increased probability of HRT discontinuation after WHI versus before WHI (log-rank test, p<0.01). A subset of 85 women taking HRT 1 year before WHI were followed for 18 months. Discontinuation rates were 8% (7 of 85 patients) during the 12 months before WHI and 38% (30 of 78) during the 6 months after WHI, with 80% (24 of 30) of these patients discontinuing within 3 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased HRT discontinuation was temporally associated with release of WHI data, which implies that highly publicized, negative outcomes data can quickly influence pharmacotherapy decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, USA.
authors.forename: Megan B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Bestul
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McCollum
authors.forename: Laura B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Saseen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016387:Women's Health