Prevalence of menopausal hormone therapy usage in symptomatic postmenopausal women in Australia

This study aimed to report the prevalence of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) usage in symptomatic postmenopausal women in Australia.

The Australian Midlife Years Study is a nationally representative, cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of women aged 40-69 years that included current MHT usage and menopausal symptoms. Data were collected during October 2023-March 2024.

Of 8086 participants, 10.8% of postmenopausal respondents reported MHT use. Further analysis was limited to 2503 potential MHT users (postmenopausal with vasomotor symptoms; 77.5%, n = 1941) or current users (22.5%; n = 562). The absolute number of MHT users was greatest amongst those aged 50-59 years (n = 309/1304, 24%), but the greatest proportion of use was amongst those aged 40-49 years (96/319, 30%). MHT use was less likely for participants who had body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 kg/m² or ≥30 kg/m² versus BMI of 18.5-29.9 kg/m² (p < 0.05 for all), were smokers (p < 0.001), were unemployed but seeking work versus in paid employment (p = 0.003) or were of non-European ancestry (p < 0.05). Education beyond high school (p = 0.002) and past hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy were associated with greater likelihoods of MHT use (p < 0.001).

Fewer than one-quarter of symptomatic postmenopausal Australian women were using MHT, with socio-demographic variables predicting use. The overall use remains similar to that reported a decade ago.