Women's anticipations of hormonal replacement therapy

Middle class Caucasian women's anticipations about hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) for perimenopausal symptoms were investigated to expand an understanding of elective use of HRT. This focused ethnography used both interviews and participation in discussion groups established for perimenopausal women as sources of data. Two investigators augmented validity. Inductive and deductive analysis yielded six typologies of anticipations: trusting in nature, fixing, skeptical experimenting, restabilizing, life enhancing, and trusting in science. These findings have clinical and theoretical implications related to issues of non-compliance, health seeking behaviour, provider-recipient interaction, and the focus of scientific investigation.