Attitudes to menopause and hormone replacement therapy among Asian and Caucasian women general practitioners

Objective: To look for any differences in attitudes to menopause and hormon e replacement therapy (HRT) between Asian and Caucasian women standardised for educational background, socio-economic status and access to medical inf ormation. Method: Self administered postal questionnaire sent to 144 women doctors (general practitioners) in defined geographical areas. Results: The overall response rate was 61%. Both Asian and Caucasian women responded in a similar manner for most aspects. A high proportion of these women doctor s (over 75%) would seek HRT at the climacteric. More Asian respondents repo rted a fear of breast cancer (P = 0.001). and that a woman feels less of a woman after the menopause (P = 0.02). More Caucasian respondents felt posit ively about the potential for HRT to enhance enjoyment of life (P = 0.01). Conclusions: The lack of major differences between the ethnic groups in our sample suggests that variations reported elsewhere may be due to lack of k nowledge and/or differences in socio-economic status. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sci ence Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.