Patients' Concerns for Hormone-Replacement Therapy for Menopause

While most women experience significant perimenopausal symptoms, only a percentage utilize hormone-replacement therapy (HRT). Despite the publicized risks, HRT provides benefits beyond perimenopausal symptom improvement, including decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and affective disorders, and quality of life.

Subjects were recruited randomly in four clinics. The survey data is uploaded to a survey platform. Data were analyzed to identify reasons for HRT refusal, and to see what associations exist between menopause severity and use of HRT.

71 subjects in total completed the survey. 25 (35%) have never used HRT, and 46 (65%) have used it before. 17 (24%) individuals stated that concerns regarding cancer were central to decision-making on whether they opted to utilize HRT. Possible cancer risk was the most common concern (34, 48%) among the entire study population. The difference between the two groups was not significant regarding specific concerns and reasons as to why they did or did not receive this treatment for menopause. For the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), the non-HRT group (Group 1) mean was 7.79, and the HRT group (Group 2) mean was 15.07. This difference was significant (two-tailed p = 0.0009).  Conclusions: Findings from this study show there is still a large proportion of women concerned about risks of HRT especially regarding cancer. Future studies aimed at addressing significance in HRT's effect on osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and more that impact the morbidity and mortality of menopausal women could be vital to finding a unified stance on this topic.