THE PHYSICIANS ROLE IN WOMENS DECISION-MAKING ABOUT HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

Objective: To ascertain the sources of information women use when maki ng decisions about hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Methods: A cross -sectional, population-based computer-assisted telephone survey of 108 2 randomly selected women aged 50-80 years (80.3% response rate) was c onducted at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, a large staff-mod el health maintenance organization in Washington state. Results: Overa ll, 460 participants (42.5%) were current HRT users, 226 (20.9%) were past users,nd 396 (36.6%) were never users. Discussions with physician s dominated as the major source of information used in decision making by current (83.4%) and past (65.5%) users, but were less often cited by never users (44.4%); printed material was used by 44.5% of women. A lthough 72.1% of current users reported that the amount of information received from their physician about the benefits of HRT was about rig ht, only 48.2% of past users and 33.6% of never users shared this view (P < .001 current versus never), and 13.3% of current users, 32.6% of past users and 58% of never users reported receiving no information f rom their physician about HRT's benefits. Conclusion: Hormone replacem ent therapy use is strongly related to interactions between women and their physicians. Many women use written materials to make decisions a bout HRT. A large proportion of women feel inadequately informed about HRT's risks and benefits. Much work remains to be accomplished toward meeting the goal of the US Preventive Services Task Force that all pe rimenopausal and postmenopausal women be counseled about the potential benefits and risks of HRT. (Obstet Gynecol 1998;92:580-4. (C) 1998 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.).