TY - JOUR
T1 - Postmenopausal hormone use and skeletal fracture
T2 - Does the size of the benefit decrease with increasing age?
AU - Weiss, Noel S.
AU - Treggiari, Miriam M.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Results of a recent meta-analysis of randomized trials suggest that, among postmenopausal women, the relative impact of hormone use in reducing the incidence of skeletal fracture declines with increasing age. We contend that: 1) the duration of the randomized trials in which older postmenopausal women were included was too short to adequately evaluate the impact of long-term hormone use on fracture risk; 2) randomized trials of hormone use in relation to a surrogate end point, bone mineral density, as well as nonrandomized studies of hormones and fracture risk, have documented a skeletal benefit associated with long-term hormone use among postmenopausal women irrespective of age; and 3) even if with increasing age there were a true decline in the relative benefit associated with the use of hormones, the size of the absolute reduction in fracture risk produced by hormone use among older postmenopausal women could be similar to or greater than that among younger postmenopausal women. For these reasons, we believe that when weighing the risks and benefits of the initiation or continuation of hormone therapy, a postmenopausal woman and her provider of health care need not consider her age when estimating the skeletal benefit such therapy can offer.
AB - Results of a recent meta-analysis of randomized trials suggest that, among postmenopausal women, the relative impact of hormone use in reducing the incidence of skeletal fracture declines with increasing age. We contend that: 1) the duration of the randomized trials in which older postmenopausal women were included was too short to adequately evaluate the impact of long-term hormone use on fracture risk; 2) randomized trials of hormone use in relation to a surrogate end point, bone mineral density, as well as nonrandomized studies of hormones and fracture risk, have documented a skeletal benefit associated with long-term hormone use among postmenopausal women irrespective of age; and 3) even if with increasing age there were a true decline in the relative benefit associated with the use of hormones, the size of the absolute reduction in fracture risk produced by hormone use among older postmenopausal women could be similar to or greater than that among younger postmenopausal women. For these reasons, we believe that when weighing the risks and benefits of the initiation or continuation of hormone therapy, a postmenopausal woman and her provider of health care need not consider her age when estimating the skeletal benefit such therapy can offer.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0029-7844(02)02046-X
DO - 10.1016/S0029-7844(02)02046-X
M3 - Article
C2 - 12151165
AN - SCOPUS:0036334251
SN - 0029-7844
VL - 100
SP - 364
EP - 368
JO - Obstetrics and gynecology
JF - Obstetrics and gynecology
IS - 2
ER -