Low use of long-term hormone replacement therapy in Denmark

Aims To examine individual use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in a de fined population of Danish women during a 5-year period. HRT may reduce ost eoporosis and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women, but may also have side-effects. Little is known about the use of HRT in most populations . Methods A Pharmacoepidemiological Prescription Database was used to identif y all reimbursed prescriptions for HRT in the county during the period 1991 to 1995. The Danish retail pharmacies' drug subsidy system made it possibl e to identify prescriptions by individual use. Results We examined 255 797 HRT prescriptions issued during the period in t he County of North Jutland. Total sales reached 16.5 million defined daily doses (DDDs), purchased by 31653 women, which corresponds to 26.9% of the f emale population above the age of 39 years. The annual prevalence proportio n of current users rose from 10.4% to 14.8% during the study period, and th e therapeutic intensity (DDD/1000 women/day) increased from 20.6 to 32.0. T he mean DDD sum of systemic HRT per user was 73.4 in 1991; it and the propo rtion of users who received less than 90 DDD per year (83.4% in 1991) remai ned almost constant during the study period. The amount of oestrogen unoppo sed by progestin was high, 28.1% of all prescriptions. Conclusions Less than one-fifth of the study population used HRT for more t han 3 months per year, and only 32.8% of the women who were new users of HR T in 1992 continued this therapy throughout the study period.