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A Survey of Menopause Care Among US Women

Received: 7 January 2019     Accepted: 25 February 2019     Published: 18 April 2019
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Abstract

Objective: Nearly one-third of American women are postmenopausal and at risk for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood disorders, and vulvovaginal atrophy. Primary healthcare providers in addition to gynecologists need to be ready to address these concerns. One area of controversy has been the role of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) in the treatment of symptoms. This study sought to determine how often women seek care for menopause, their satisfaction with care, and their use of MHT. Methods: An online survey was administered to 1,509 women age 40-89. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: 81% have experienced symptoms but only 50% of women have discussed menopause with a provider and 31% do not receive information about menopause from any sources. Among those who say they need treatment, only 15% have pursued but not received it. Of those who have discussed it with their provider, 25% with symptoms were not offered treatment and 11% said their provider was not sympathetic. However, 97% said that their provider was comfortable and 97% knowledgeable. Regarding treatment, 62% reported that providers discussed MHT, 36% reported that providers recommended it, but only 6% of women are using it. Conclusions: It is encouraging that the vast majority of women who have pursued treatment are satisfied with their care. However, a quarter of women who sought treatment were not offered treatment and half of the women surveyed had never been counselled on menopause. Steps should be taken to encourage provider-initiated discussion of menopause.

Published in Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (Volume 7, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11
Page(s) 31-35
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Quality of Care, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Menopause Care

References
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[4] Kingsberg SA, Wysocki S, Magnus L, Krychman ML. Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy in Postmenopausal Women: Findings from the REVIVE (REal Women’s VIews of Treatment Options for Menopausal Vaginal ChangEs) Survey. J Sex Med. 2013; 10 (7): 1790-1799. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12190.
[5] Kingsberg SA, Krychman M, Graham S, Bernick B, Mirkin S. The Women’s EMPOWER Survey: Identifying Women’s Perceptions on Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy and Its Treatment. J Sex Med. 2017; 14 (3): 413-424. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.01.010.
[6] Cumming GP, Currie HD, Moncur R, Lee AJ. Web-based survey on the effect of menopause on women’s libido in a computer-literate population. Menopause Int. 2009; 15 (1): 8-12. doi: 10.1258/mi.2009.009001.
[7] Manson JE, Chlebowski RT, Stefanick ML, et al. Menopausal hormone therapy and health outcomes during the intervention and extended poststopping phases of the Women’s Health Initiative randomized trials. JAMA. 2013; 310 (13): 1353-1368. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.278040.
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[12] Rossouw JE, Prentice RL, Manson JE, et al. Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease by Age and Years Since Menopause. JAMA. 2007; 297 (13): 1465-1477. doi: 10.1001/jama.297.13.1465.
[13] Stuenkel CA, Davis SR, Gompel A, et al. Treatment of Symptoms of the Menopause: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2015; 100 (11): 3975-4011. doi: 10.1210/jc.2015-2236.
[14] Salpeter SR, Walsh JME, Greyber E, Salpeter EE. Brief report: Coronary heart disease events associated with hormone therapy in younger and older women. A meta-analysis. J Gen Intern Med. 2006; 21 (4): 363-366. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00389.x.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sandy Rose Truong, Jennifer Wolff, Teresa Keenan, Victoria Gelfeld, G. Oscar Anderson, et al. (2019). A Survey of Menopause Care Among US Women. Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 7(2), 31-35. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11

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    ACS Style

    Sandy Rose Truong; Jennifer Wolff; Teresa Keenan; Victoria Gelfeld; G. Oscar Anderson, et al. A Survey of Menopause Care Among US Women. J. Gynecol. Obstet. 2019, 7(2), 31-35. doi: 10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11

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    AMA Style

    Sandy Rose Truong, Jennifer Wolff, Teresa Keenan, Victoria Gelfeld, G. Oscar Anderson, et al. A Survey of Menopause Care Among US Women. J Gynecol Obstet. 2019;7(2):31-35. doi: 10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11,
      author = {Sandy Rose Truong and Jennifer Wolff and Teresa Keenan and Victoria Gelfeld and G. Oscar Anderson and Patricia David and Wen Shen},
      title = {A Survey of Menopause Care Among US Women},
      journal = {Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics},
      volume = {7},
      number = {2},
      pages = {31-35},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jgo.20190702.11},
      abstract = {Objective: Nearly one-third of American women are postmenopausal and at risk for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood disorders, and vulvovaginal atrophy. Primary healthcare providers in addition to gynecologists need to be ready to address these concerns. One area of controversy has been the role of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) in the treatment of symptoms. This study sought to determine how often women seek care for menopause, their satisfaction with care, and their use of MHT. Methods: An online survey was administered to 1,509 women age 40-89. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: 81% have experienced symptoms but only 50% of women have discussed menopause with a provider and 31% do not receive information about menopause from any sources. Among those who say they need treatment, only 15% have pursued but not received it. Of those who have discussed it with their provider, 25% with symptoms were not offered treatment and 11% said their provider was not sympathetic. However, 97% said that their provider was comfortable and 97% knowledgeable. Regarding treatment, 62% reported that providers discussed MHT, 36% reported that providers recommended it, but only 6% of women are using it. Conclusions: It is encouraging that the vast majority of women who have pursued treatment are satisfied with their care. However, a quarter of women who sought treatment were not offered treatment and half of the women surveyed had never been counselled on menopause. Steps should be taken to encourage provider-initiated discussion of menopause.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Survey of Menopause Care Among US Women
    AU  - Sandy Rose Truong
    AU  - Jennifer Wolff
    AU  - Teresa Keenan
    AU  - Victoria Gelfeld
    AU  - G. Oscar Anderson
    AU  - Patricia David
    AU  - Wen Shen
    Y1  - 2019/04/18
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11
    T2  - Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics
    JF  - Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics
    JO  - Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics
    SP  - 31
    EP  - 35
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2376-7820
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jgo.20190702.11
    AB  - Objective: Nearly one-third of American women are postmenopausal and at risk for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood disorders, and vulvovaginal atrophy. Primary healthcare providers in addition to gynecologists need to be ready to address these concerns. One area of controversy has been the role of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) in the treatment of symptoms. This study sought to determine how often women seek care for menopause, their satisfaction with care, and their use of MHT. Methods: An online survey was administered to 1,509 women age 40-89. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: 81% have experienced symptoms but only 50% of women have discussed menopause with a provider and 31% do not receive information about menopause from any sources. Among those who say they need treatment, only 15% have pursued but not received it. Of those who have discussed it with their provider, 25% with symptoms were not offered treatment and 11% said their provider was not sympathetic. However, 97% said that their provider was comfortable and 97% knowledgeable. Regarding treatment, 62% reported that providers discussed MHT, 36% reported that providers recommended it, but only 6% of women are using it. Conclusions: It is encouraging that the vast majority of women who have pursued treatment are satisfied with their care. However, a quarter of women who sought treatment were not offered treatment and half of the women surveyed had never been counselled on menopause. Steps should be taken to encourage provider-initiated discussion of menopause.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • School of Medicine, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States

  • American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Washingto, United States

  • American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Washingto, United States

  • American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Washingto, United States

  • American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Washingto, United States

  • American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Washingto, United States

  • School of Medicine, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States

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