Health behaviors and other characteristics of women on hormone therapy: results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of hormone therapy (HT) use and compare demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and health indicators between current HT users and never-users in a nationally representative sample of postmenopausal women.


METHODS
The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was a cross-sectional survey conducted between 1988 and 1994, including 3,673 postmenopausal women aged 40 years and older.


RESULTS
Overall, 419 (11.4%) of the women reported current HT use, 857 (23.3%) reported past use, and 2,397 (65.3%) were never-users. Non-Hispanic black women and women aged 70 years or older were less likely to be current users. Higher socioeconomic status (education and income) and surgical menopause were associated with increased odds of current hormone use. After adjusting for the above variables, women who reported being inactive during leisure time and obese women (body mass index >or= 30) were less likely to be current users. Women who had 5 to 29 alcoholic drinks per month, perceived their health status as "good," took a multiple vitamin, were aware of having high blood cholesterol, and had a clinic for regular medical care were more likely to be current users. Smoking habits were not significantly different between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Current HT users have different demographic profiles and may lead healthier lives than never-users. This is important to take into account when studying the effects of HT, and it may partly explain differences in findings regarding the health effects of HT use in observational studies compared with randomized clinical trials.
Brennan
Renee M
RM
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214-3000, USA. brennan3@buffalo.edu
Crespo
Carlos J
CJ
Wactawski-Wende
Jean
J
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology