title: A service evaluation of women attending the menopause/premature ovarian failure clinic of a tertiary referral centre.
abstract: This service evaluation aimed to characterise the referrals to the premature ovarian failure clinic, including the type of referral and patient needs, in order to plan for future service provision. The majority of women seen in the clinic experienced idiopathic premature ovarian failure, were aged 30-39 and were nulliparous at the time of diagnosis. Our service requires to be tailored to their needs. For many women, this includes a fertility consultation in the clinic and this part of the service is well used. Our data support the long-term follow-up of women both on treatment and those who initially decline treatment. Most women who initially decline treatment accept it after a few clinic visits. This may be due to consistent advice on the benefits of oestrogen treatment or due to yearly bone scans showing a change in bone density. There was a high non-attendance rate in this group: 21% of appointments were not attended.
authors.affiliation: Menopause Research Unit, McNair Centre, Ground Floor Southwark Wing, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK. beth.cartwright@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cartwright
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Holloway
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rymer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008594:Menopause, Premature; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016649:Primary Ovarian Insufficiency / Q000188:drug therapy; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D006113:United Kingdom