Original researchMenopausal symptoms in older women and the effects of treatment with hormone therapy☆
Section snippets
Materials and methods
The design, methods, and main findings of the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study have been previously published.3 The Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at all participating clinical centers. Participants were postmenopausal women less than 80 years with an intact uterus and established coronary heart disease (evidenced by one or more of the following: myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass graft surgery,
Results
Participants ranged in age from 55 to 88 years, with a mean age of 67 years. The majority of women were white and relatively well educated. All women in the trial had a uterus, and 99% had ovaries. On average, menopause had occurred 18 years prior to the start of the trial. At baseline, there were no differences between the treatment groups in demographics, reproductive history, body mass index, or habits (Table 1).
Symptoms typically associated with menopause were relatively common among the
Discussion
The majority of published investigations of menopausal-type symptoms in women have concentrated on midlife women between the ages of 45 and 60 years.4, 5, 6, 7 The average age of participants in the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study was 67 years, and the oldest participant was 79 years old, making this a unique population in which to study the prevalence of typical menopausal symptoms. The randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled design of the trial is also the most appropriate
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The Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study was funded by Wyeth-Ayerst Research.