The Journal of Korean Society of Menopause  2012;18(1):43-51

doi:10.6118/jksm.2012.18.1.43

Study of Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes on Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Eon Na RYOO 1 ; Kyung Sook PARK ; Hyoung Moo PARK

Affiliations

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Keywords

Attitude; Hormone replacement therapy; Knowledge; Menopause; Nurse

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

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.