Hormone Replacement Therapy and Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women

Background: Menopausal symptoms decrease quality of life (QoL) of postmenopausal women, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) reduces vasomotor symptoms. However, there are some ongoing debates about whether HRT improves health- related QoL. Th e purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between HRT and QoL in postmenopausal women. Methods: We analyzed data from the 5th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011. European quality of life instrument (EuroQol)-5 dimension (EQ-5D) index and EuroQol-visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) were used to evaluate QoL. Th ey are standardized measurement instruments of health status developed by the EuroQol Group. Results: A total of 511 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 59 years were included in the analysis. Eighty fi ve (16.6%) were the HRT group and 426 (83.45%) were the non-HRT group. EQ-5D index and EQ-VAS were not signifi cantly diff erent between the two groups, except that the anxiety/depression dimension was poorer in the HRT group (1.27) than the non-HRT group (1.12) (P=0.005). Among the HRT group, we analysed two subgroups divided by whether they initiated HRT before or after 48 months from the onset of menopause, and there were no signifi cant diff erences of EQ-5D index (P=0.722) and EQ-VAS (P=0.739). Conclusion: Th is study concludes that there is no signifi cant association between HRT and QoL in postmenopausal women.