[Attitudes of Norwegian general practitioners to prescription of estrogens 1990-92]

In order to investigate the attitudes towards the prescription of hormone replacement therapy in menopausal and postmenopausal women, a questionnaire was mailed to two random samples of Norwegian general practitioners. The first sample (n = 340) was investigated in 1990, just before a national consensus conference on the use of oestrogens, the second (n = 240) one year after the conference. Nine short case stories were presented and the doctors indicated their attitudes to oestrogen prescribing in each case. Four items were systematically investigated: climacteric symptoms, smoking, risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. In general, a restrained attitude towards the prescribing of oestrogen was found. Smoking and a family history of cardiovascular disease reduced the willingness to prescribe. The doctors had more patients on oestrogen treatment in 1992 than in 1990. In general, the answers indicate a more liberal attitude to replacement therapy in 1992, but the pattern of willingness to prescribe remained unchanged. Female physicians showed greater willingness to prescribe oestrogen than their male colleagues did, and were more updated on contraindications.