Study finds little awareness of HRT benefits

Irish women are not fully aware of the cost osteoporosis, heart disease and the menopause are having on their quality of life, and have little awareness of the benefits of hormone replacement therapy, according to a two-year study of their health needs.

The study, by UCD Centre for Health Economics, calls for a mass screening programme for osteoporosis among women in their late 60s, a new anti-smoking campaign aimed at women and a greater involvement of GPs in supplying women with health information. It was published yesterday by the Saffron Initiative, a body made up of women's interest groups and GPs.

In a survey of 1,260 women aged over 18 by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which features in the study, women placed breast cancer as the most serious disease affecting them, though heart disease in women over 45 causes 10 times more deaths. It confirms young women are exercising less and smoking more in an effort to keep weight down.

Osteoporosis was not regarded as a major condition despite 40 per cent of women experiencing spinal fracture, and 30 per cent having a hip fracture due to the disease (a fifth of whom will die as a consequence within three months) by the age of 80. The bone-thinning condition is caused by low levels of oestrogen hormone, coinciding with the menopause.

Women with identifiable risk factors for osteoporosis - such as early menopause - should be targeted for preventative treatment, the study recommends. On heart disease, the third-largest cause of death in women, it says a no-smoking campaign should be aimed at young women in primary and secondary school.

The committee chairwoman, Mrs Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, called on the Departments of Health and Education to establish such a campaign urgently.

Almost two-thirds of those surveyed believed nothing could be done to delay the onset of the menopause or the effects on their lifestyle, though the remainder saw HRT as the main solution. Many were aware of HRT's side-effects but few knew the menopause was associated with increased incidence of osteoporosis and heart disease.

Few women were aware that replaced hormones counterbalanced this risk, said a committee member and GP, Dr Mary Short. "Over 64 per cent of women involved in the study were uncertain as to the role of HRT in the menopause."

With women spending more time than ever in their menopausal years, the Department of Health needed to address the consequences, she said.

It was "really sad" that 37 per cent of respondents believed nothing could be done about their menopause. Only a small proportion of women over 45 took HRT in the past or are currently taking it (10 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively).

Breast cancer was an emotive issue, Dr Short said, but "not the killer it appears to be", accounting for 600 deaths among Irish women every year, compared to 6,000 deaths caused by heart disease. Women's wish for information from their doctors in preference to the printed media meant GPs had to adopt a "care rather than cure" role.

Dr Joe Durkan, of the Centre for Health Economics, expressed alarm at the lack of health information women receive from their GPs. "Only 25 per cent of women are getting health information from their GP, while over 46 per cent receive their information from the print media, even though only 3.4 per cent expressed a preference for this source."

Speaking at the study's publication, the President, Mrs McAleese, said the Saffron Initiative was of immense importance to Irish women when, despite increased awareness of health, life expectancy among Irish women remains among the lowest in the EU.