COMPLIANCE WITH HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY AT A MENOPAUSE CLINIC IN A COMMUNITY SETTING

The level of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use remains low despite accumulating evidence of its health benefits for postmenopausal women . There appears to be a low level of compliance with prescribed HRT in primary care. This study aimed to determine the level of compliance w ith HRT prescribed at a specialist menopause clinic within a family pl anning and well woman centre. One hundred and thirty five women were s urveyed, of whom 79.1 per cent were continuing to use HRT nine months or longer after discharge from the clinic. The only factor found to be associated with compliance after discharge was the report of sexual d ifficulties at presentation; this was negatively associated with conti nuing HRT use. In particular, neither the presence of vasomotor sympto ms nor a lower than average bone density were found to predict complia nce.