WISDOM. Will Australian women participate?

This study investigated the likelihood of 50-69 year old women participating in the Women's International Study of long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause (WISDOM)--a 10 year randomised placebo controlled trial of hormone replacement therapy involving 10 years treatment plus a further 10 years follow up of major health outcomes.

The Health Monitor 2 (a representative population telephone survey) was used. Participants were 268 women aged 50-69 years from a total survey population of 2003 adults. Sociodemographic characteristics were collected.

Of the women surveyed 20.9% indicated they were likely to participate and this was independent of sociodemographic characteristics and self reported health status. Women aged 50-54 were more likely to participate than older women.

After allowing for exclusion criteria, it is estimated that approximately 10% of 50-69 year old women approached for recruitment in WISDOM may actually participate. There are likely to be sufficient altruistic women in this population to run WISDOM in Australia.