Patients' Concerns for Hormone-Replacement Therapy for Menopause.

Area of Science:

• Women's Health
• Endocrinology
• Menopause Research

Background:

• Most women experience perimenopausal symptoms, but few use hormone-replacement therapy (HRT).
• HRT offers benefits beyond symptom relief, including reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and affective disorders, improving quality of life.
• Publicized risks of HRT contribute to low utilization rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify reasons for HRT refusal among women.
• To examine associations between menopause severity and HRT use.

Main Methods:

• Random recruitment of subjects across four clinics.
• Survey data collected and uploaded to a survey platform.
• Analysis of survey data to determine reasons for HRT refusal and associations with menopause severity.

Main Results:

• Out of 71 subjects, 35% never used HRT and 65% had used it.
• Cancer concerns were central to HRT decision-making for 24% of participants, with possible cancer risk being the most common worry (48%).
• A significant difference in Menopause Rating Scale scores was observed between non-HRT (mean 7.79) and HRT users (mean 15.07), indicating greater symptom severity in HRT users (p=0.0009).

Conclusions:

• A significant proportion of women remain concerned about HRT risks, particularly cancer.
• Higher menopause symptom severity is associated with HRT use.
• Further research on HRT's impact on osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and other factors affecting morbidity and mortality in menopausal women is crucial for establishing a consensus.