title: Clinical guidelines for improving compliance with hormone therapy in Latin American women during the menopausal transition and thereafter.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide uniform, objective guidance for physicians and other health care workers in Latin America to enhance compliance with hormone therapy (HT), and to provide a tool for continued medical education and a source for answering clinical questions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature search using MEDLINE; identification of key relevant publications by a five-member expert committee; creation and validation of a 60-item questionnaire used to survey the opinion of 72 physicians participating in a Latin American symposium, "The Faces of Menopause".
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the basis of the validated responses, major points were identified to enhance compliance with HT with specific reference to Latin America, and two algorithms were created to provide practical guidance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present guidelines will facilitate optimal compliance with therapy in Latin American postmenopausal women who opt for HT and for whom HT is indicated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Human Reproduction, School of Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bossemeyer
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Espinosa-Larrañaga
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murillo
authors.forename: Nestor
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Siseles
mesh_terms: D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000187:drug effects*