Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Middle-aged women--Medical care--Iowa--Black Hawk County; Menopause--Hormone therapy--Decision making; Middle-aged women--Medical care; Iowa--Black Hawk County;
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe factors that influence women's decision regarding hormone replacement therapy (HRT) at menopause. It is estimated that between 15 and 25% of eligible women are on HRT today. With all of the scientific evidence on the benefits of HR T, this percentage is very low. A questionnaire was sent to 420 randomly selected women from Black Hawk County ages 40 years and older. There were 161 usable responses for a 38.3% return rate. The majority of the women in the study were in the 40-60 years-old age group and were Caucasian college graduates. The presence of the symptoms of menopause were strongly associated with a woman's decision to use HRT. The number of women on HRT who suffered from hot flashes, depression, insomnia, or vaginal dryness were higher in all cases, than the number of women not experiencing symptoms. Within the sample, white women who were ages 40-60 years of age, had some college or were college graduates were more likely to be on HRT. Respondents who perceived that their physicians were knowledgeable about HRT, spent enough time with them discussing HRT, and shared in the decision making process on whether or not to begin HR T were far more likely to be on hormone replacement therapy than those respondents who felt otherwise. Thus, the factors that seemed to influence womens' decision on HRT at menopause were age, education, menopausal symptoms, and physician/patient rapport.
Year of Submission
1999
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services
First Advisor
Sue Joslyn
Second Advisor
Tom Davis
Third Advisor
Larry Hensley
Date Original
1999
Object Description
1 PDF file (74 leaves)
Copyright
©1999 Judy Mixsell
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Mixsell, Judy, "Factors That Influence Women’s Decision Regarding Hormone Replacement Therapy at Menopause" (1999). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 1729.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/1729
Comments
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