Factors associated with treatment options among menopausal women in Taiwan

Objectives: Taiwan has a two-tiered medical system that includes modern medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The objectives of this study were to compare the characteristics of menopausal women who did not use any treatment, who used hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and who used TCM to treat their climacteric symptoms. Methods: The study subjects were 182 women aged 46-55 years (non-treatment: 61, HRT: 60, TCM: 61). Variables used included socio-demographics, climacteric symptoms, other physical symptoms, experiences with the treatment, and attitude toward menopause. Multivariate analyses were performed using multinomial logistic regression. Results: Compared with women in the non-treatment group, employed women were more likely to have received HRT or TCM. Women in the TCM group were more likely to have comorbid non-climacteric physical symptoms and were less likely to have family support for the use of HRT. Women in the TCM group were more likely to have an attitude regarding menopause as a natural phenomenon and as having little impact on attractiveness and sexual life. Severity of current climacteric symptoms was lower in the HRT group, while it was higher in the TCM group. These factors accounted for 66.1% of the model variances. Conclusions: Women in different treatment groups had different characteristics. Health professionals should be aware of the differences and provide information on treatment options in order to help and support women in making treatment decisions. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.