Abstract
AbstractThe principal cause of death in post‐menopausal women with diabetes is cardiovascular disease. Women who use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been shown to have a 50% reduction in their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to determine if general practitioners prescribed HRT as frequently to women with diabetes as to other women of the same age. A prevalence study of HRT prescribing was carried out using a GP database. There were 188,933 women aged 45–79 years on the database, of whom 17% were prescribed HRT. The overall age‐standardised rate ratio for HRT use in women with diabetes compared with women without diabetes was 0.71 (95% CI 0.64–0.78). Within the diabetic group, insulin‐treated patients compared with those treated with hypoglycaemic agents were more likely to be prescribed HRT, with an age‐standardised rate ratio of 1.31 (95% CI 1.06–1.62). The study shows that general practitioners are less likely to prescribe HRT to women with diabetes despite the potential major benefits of a reduced incidence of CHD.
Published Version
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