Attitudes to menopause and hormone replacement therapy among Asian and Caucasian women general practitioners

Abstract

Objective: To look for any differences in attitudes to menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) between Asian and Caucasian women standardised for educational background, socio-economic status and access to medical information. Method: Self administered postal questionnaire sent to 144 women doctors (general practitioners) in defined geographical areas. Results: The overall response rate was 61%. Both Asian and Caucasian women responded in a similar manner for most aspects. A high proportion of these women doctors (over 75%) would seek HRT at the climacteric. More Asian respondents reported a fear of breast cancer ( P=0.001), and that a woman feels less of a woman after the menopause ( P=0.02). More Caucasian respondents felt positively about the potential for HRT to enhance enjoyment of life ( P=0.01). Conclusions: The lack of major differences between the ethnic groups in our sample suggests that variations reported elsewhere may be due to lack of knowledge and/or differences in socio-economic status.