J Korean Soc Menopause.  2012 Apr;18(1):43-51.

Study of Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes on Hormone Replacement Therapy

• Ryoo EN
• Park KS
• Park HM

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was performed to identify nurses' knowledge and attitudes on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) of menopausal women.
METHODS
Data were collected from 221 nurses who were working at maternity hospitals in the whole country using questionnaires consisting of 9 questions related to menopause-related knowledge and HRT-related attitudes and knowledge.
RESULTS
According to the nurses's responses, the diseases of concern in menopausal women were osteoporosis (78%), and depression (69%). Most nurses replied that the most effective treatment of menopausal symptoms is HRT, and nurses were very knowledgeable about its strengths (59%) and weaknesses (44%). Cancer was regarded as the major complication of HRT (71%), and its side effects were breast pain (77%) and vaginal bleeding (77%). Forty-six percent of nurses thought that the appropriate treatment duration of HRT is not necessary to limit the period. The most important considerations when conducting HRT were drug stability (59%) and improving the quality of life (36%). Ninety-fi ve percent of nurses responded that they personally would use HRT for menopausal treatment or would recommend their family. HRT for menopausal symptoms was being utilized before seeking medical treatment (40%) and after drug prescription (42%).
CONCLUSION
Nurses have very positive attitudes about HRT but appeared to lack critical knowledge about HRT. Therefore, more educational programs for nurses about HRT should be required.

Keyword

Attitude; Hormone replacement therapy; Knowledge; Menopause; Nurse

MeSH Terms

Depression
Drug Prescriptions
Drug Stability
Female
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hospitals, Maternity
Humans
Mastodynia
Menopause
Osteoporosis
Quality of Life
Uterine Hemorrhage
Surveys and Questionnaires

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