Australian women's perceptions of hormone replacement therapy over 10 years.

The knowledge, beliefs and experience of 60 women with HRT was studied when the women were premenopausal, and 10 years later when they were postmenopausal. Thirty-eight women had taken HRT by 1993. In 1993 women no longer considered clinics and self help groups to be the most useful sources of information about the menopause. They were more likely to think that doctors' knowledge of HRT was not adequate and to favour the use of HRT. Their reservations about all postmenopausal women receiving HRT continued. The women's understanding of long-term use of HRT varied. The women continued to maintain a desire not to experience withdrawal bleeding with HRT. More than 60% of women considered that HRT helped hot flushes, non-specific emotional changes and vaginal dryness. Women in 1993 were more likely to consider that HRT would help the menopausal symptoms of osteoporosis, insomnia and loss of muscle tone while fewer considered anxiety and depression would be relieved by HRT. Only one third believed HRT would reduce the incidence of heart disease. Women were more likely to take or have taken HRT if they were working and had achieved a higher work status (professional), considered reading material as the most useful source of information about menopause, had experienced menopause symptoms as distressing, considered menopause made relationships with husband and children more difficult and supported the universal use of HRT for all women.