Five-year compliance with hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal Chinese women in Hong Kong

Objectives: To assess 5-year compliance with hormone replacement therapy (H RT) in Hong Kong Chinese women and the reasons for long-term compliance or non-compliance. Methods: A telephone survey using a standardized questionna ire was conducted in 187 postmenopausal women who had commenced HRT in a re ferral-only specialist clinic of a university teaching hospital 5 years pre viously. Over this 5-year period, the cohort had been referred out to prima ry care doctors once they had become stabilized on treatment. Results: The 5-year compliance rate was 71.1%, The overall compliance rates were nearly the same from 2 and 5 years. 'Doctors' advice' was the most important reaso n for maintenance of long-term compliance, accounting for 88.0%, of all com pliant cases. The most frequent reason for non-compliance was that of the e xperience of side effects. Other important reasons were fear of cancer, fea r of other side effects, and discouragement from other doctors. Overall, 16 .0%, of women expressed concern regarding potential side effects or risk of breast cancer. Younger age at menopause and at time of initial consultatio n, shorter duration of menopause at presentation and previous history of hy sterectomy were associated with a higher degree of compliance at 5 years. P resence or absence of menopausal symptoms, on the other hand, was not a sig nificant factor, Conclusions: The 5-year compliance rate in this cohort of Hong Kong Chinese women was comparable to that reported from predominantly Caucasian populations. The physicians' role in encouraging postmenopausal w omen to achieve long-term HRT compliance was observed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc ience Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.