A Survey of Obstetricians & Gynecologists' Attitudes on Hormone Replacement Therapy

This study was performed to find out obstetricians-gynecologists' view on taking hormone replacement therapy HRT to perimenopausal women in Korea.

Questionnaires were mailed to 300 Korean obstetricians-gynecologists in order to obtain their views on the use of hormone replacement therapy. A total of 136 gynecologists responded.

Most of obstetricians-gynecologists(88.2%) were prescrinbing HRT to the perimenopausal or postmenopausal women. The most common indication of HRT was the treatment of vasomotor symptoms(56.6%) in symptomatic postmenopausal women and the prevention of osteoporosis(46.6%) in asymptomatic postmenopausal women. The most common routes of HRT were the oral(66.3%) administration. About two third of respondents prescribed HRT by cyclic estrogen-progestogen combined therapy(47.4%), and 46.8% of respondents thought that HRT must be started within 5 years after menopause. The duration of HRT was variable and 23.5-36.9% of respondents thought that HRT should be continued through the life.

This survey suggests that the most of Korean obstetricians-gynecologists favors the use of HRT in postmenopausal women but the results may become generalisable to the wider population as information on the potential benefits of hormone replacement therapy is disseminated.