Women's perception of the menopause and hormone treatment: barriers against hormone therapy

Objectives To identify the mean age of menopause, menopausal symptoms, and perceptions of hormone therapy (HT) among women aged 20-64 years in Turkey. Methods The study was descriptive and cross-sectional. A total of 729 Turkish women between 20 and 64 years old, living in urban areas (Samsun, Manisa and Isparta, three big cities in Turkey), participated in the study. Results The mean age of menopause was found out to be 47 +/- 4.8 years. In the present study, 53.6% of the menopausal women did not consult a doctor; 42.3% of the women who consulted their doctor did not start taking HT. HT was recommended to 23.9% of the women, but they refused to use it, while the remaining 33.8% started HT. However, even those who started HT stopped taking it later. Of the women using HT, 80.8% started to take their medications regularly; however, 50% of these discontinued HT due to the fear of cancer, and the other 50% discontinued the treatment on the recommendation of their doctors. Conclusions The treatment of half of the women who used HT was terminated by doctors, while the other half chose to discontinue the therapy themselves due to their fear of cancer. The present study offers a significant insight into the barriers against HT for women in the menopausal period. Health professionals should inform women about evidence-based studies and implement an individualized treatment and health-care plan by sharing information with potential users.