Characteristics and recent evolution of menopausal hormone therapy use in a cohort of Swedish women

Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use is characterized by important geographical and temporal variations. Knowledge of these variations is necessary to interpret the results of epidemiological studies on MHT use and disease risk, and can contribute to the understanding of national changes in disease incidence.

We used data from a cohort study of women with information on lifetime MHT use collected in 2003-2004 to describe the characteristics and recent evolution of MHT consumption in Sweden.

Among the 17 450 postmenopausal participants, prevalence of use declined by approximately 30% between 2001 and 2003. MHT was almost no longer used to prevent osteoporosis, and worry about side-effects was often cited as a reason for stopping treatment. MHT mostly consisted of estradiol used alone or opposed with either norethisterone acetate or medroxyprogesterone acetate, or in low-potency estrogens. An estimated 30% of participants initiated MHT before menopause. The cumulative monthly dose of progestogen was generally doubled in continuous combined compared with sequential combinations.

In this cohort, both prevalence of use and reasons for initiating MHT have varied between 2001 and 2003, while the modalities of use remained essentially the same.