WOMEN'S AWARENESS OF, AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS, HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY: ETHNIC DIFFERENCES AND EFFECTS OF AGE AND EDUCATION

Abstract

SUMMARYTo investigate ethnic differences and the effect of age and education on awareness and attitudes of women towards hormone replacement therapy (HRT), we conducted a questionnaire survey of 180 women attending a gynaecology clinic, of whom 152 (84.4%) responded. Seventy‐one of the women had heard of HRT. Awareness of HRT was higher in the 50‐59 year age group and in women with higher education, but lower in Indo‐Asian women than in white and black/Afro‐Caribbean women. Friends, relatives and the media were important sources of information (apart from the doctor), especially among the younger age groups. The women themselves ranked their overall understanding of HRT as ‘low’; 78% felt they did not know enough about the subject. A distorted perception of benefits/risks associated with HRT was also noted – cardiovascular protection was not appreciated, whereas there was an excessive fear of breast cancer. Twenty‐eight per cent of the menopausal, postmenopausal and hysterectomised women surveyed were current HRT users. We conclude that factors such as ethnicity, age and educational level have an impact on women's awareness of and attitudes towards HRT. Some confusion about the real benefits/risks still exists, which probably accounts for low acceptance of this treatment, and suggests that clinicians prescribing HRT need to be aware of these problems.