Use of hormone replacement therapy by menopausal women: a comparison between primary care patients and the general population.
OBJECTIVE
To compare frequency and patterns of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) between primary care patients and the local community.


METHODS
Comparison of data from a questionnaire survey of 107 peri- and postmenopausal patients in an academic primary care clinic during 1998 to similar data from a sample (n = 241) of an ongoing annual epidemiological survey representative of the general population.


RESULTS
Mean age, menopause status, age of initiation of HRT, and prior use of contraceptive pill were similar in both groups. Current HRT use tended to be lower among patients in the clinic than in the community. HRT users in the clinic were more likely to have had a surgical menopause (34.4% vs. 16.1%, p = 0.04) and to have used hormones for shorter periods than in the general population. Differences remained significant after adjustment in multivariate analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared to the general population, patterns of HRT use in the outpatient clinic were more restrictive than recommendations on HRT that were published at the time. This is an example of how comparison of health issues between patients in medical care and a local epidemiological survey can help to understand clinical practice.
Nakhlé
Arabelle Rieder
AR
Policlinique de médecine, Département de Médecine Communautaire, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland. arabelle.rieder-nakhle@hcuge.ch
Galobardes
Bruna
B
Humair
Jean-Paul
JP
Stalder
Hans
H
D000368:Aged; D002979:Climacteric / Q000187:drug effects*; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008594:Menopause, Premature / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012016:Reference Values; D013557:Switzerland; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data