title: Women's autonomy and the evaluation of the information available on the Internet on hormone therapy after menopause.
abstract: This study was designed to examine the information in Spanish, provided by different Web sites, related to hormone therapy and climacteric symptoms. Web sites evaluated included those belonging to government and scientific institutions and to a miscellaneous group. In Web sites in Spanish, there was more extensive information on the benefits of hormone therapy than there were on other items. The Web sites of governmental institutions provided significantly more information on the risks (P < .01) and benefits (P = .02) of hormone therapy than did the other sites. Governmental institutions from the United States, unlike those from Spain, did not make recommendations regarding when hormone therapy should be considered and instead emphasized the woman's decision. The variability of information in Spanish on hormone therapy and postmenopausal symptoms presented on the Internet is related to the organization responsible for the Web site. Besides, cultural differences in the concept of patient autonomy could partly explain the differences in emphasis made on women's role in the decision-making process.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud, Zaragoza, Spain. babio@intramed.net.ar
authors.forename: Gastón O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Babio
authors.forename: Soledad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Márquez-Calderón
authors.forename: José Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Garca-Gutierrez
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bermúdez-Tamayo
authors.forename: Juncal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Plazaola-Castaño
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Perez
mesh_terms: D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000592:standards*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000523:psychology; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012449:Safety; D013030:Spain; D014930:Women / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D016387:Women's Health; D014933:Women's Rights