Hormone replacement therapy: a review of the risk versus benefit--Part II.

As the large ¿baby-boom¿ cohort of women enters the period of menopause, much attention is being focused on the potential public health benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and its relative safety. Increasingly, economic models derived from these studies define populations of women most likely to benefit from this treatment. This paper will review the clinical efficacy and safety of HRT and examine published pharmacoeconomic studies evaluating the use of HRT for post-menopausal women. Ultimately, the cost effectiveness of HRT is dependent on the extent of the cardioprotective effect of estrogen and estrogen-progestin combination therapy. Part II of this article describes the pharmacologic evidence that serves as a basis for evaluating HRT.