Change in the frequency of HRT use from 2000 to 2005 and reasons to discontinue: follow‐up of a normal cohort in Finland

OBJECTIVE: To examine frequencies of the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in a follow-up cohort of women aged 57-61 years in 2005 and to discover reasons why the women who used HRT in 2000 discontinued it. DESIGN: Questionnaire survey. SETTING: Five-year cross-sectional follow-up study. SAMPLE: Cohort of 52- to 56-year-old Finnish women. METHODS: Single- and multi-predictor model analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of HRT users and quitters and reasons behind the discontinuation. RESULTS: Altogether, 35.9% of the women aged 57-61 years used HRT in 2005. Main reasons for the initial use of HRT among users and among those who discontinued included the perceived experience of severe climacteric symptoms as well as maintenance of health and prevention of mostly cardiovascular diseases. Main reasons to discontinue HRT included desire to stay without medication, side-effects, reaction to recent controversial findings in 'HRT publications' and fear of cancer. Those women who used but discontinued HRT had used it for less time than those who continued. Women who discontinued were older and initially started using HRT to maintain health. Neither the severity of climacteric symptoms nor reporting on positive or negative effects prior to starting use had influence on the women's discontinuance of HRT. CONCLUSIONS: The use of HRT was still frequent in Finland in 2005 despite the impact of controversial research results from the early 2000s. For those who discontinued HRT, these reports played an important role.