HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY - COMPLIANCE AND COST AFTER SCREENING FOR OSTEOPOROSIS

Objective: To assess HRT compliance and cost 1 year after population screening for low bone density. Design: Postal questionnaire sent out to women 1 year after having a bone density scan. Main outcome measures: Compliance with HRT, type of HRT and cost. Results: Compliance with HRT after screening for women with low bone density was 48% for postmenopausal women and 59% for women with a simple hysterectomy. The most often used form of HRT was Estraderm (49%) for women with a hysterectomy, whilst for women with an intact uterus Prempak-C (54%) was the most popular. The average annual cost of treating women who had had a hysterectomy was pound 67 whilst for women with an intact uterus it was pound 61, a non-significant difference. Conclusions. Approximately 50% of women with low bone density had started HRT within 1 year of having a densitometry examination. Previous reports of the cost advantage of treating women who had had a hysterectomy relative to those who had not has been overstated.