Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against the use of combined estrogen and progestin in postmenopausal women, or estrogen alone in postmenopausal women who have had a hysterectomy, to prevent chronic conditions such as heart disease, dementia and stroke.
Background: The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services. This latest recommendation statement on the use of hormone therapy in postmenopausal women is an update from 2012. The topic is important to many women because the risk of chronic conditions increase with age; however, whether menopause increases this risk and whether hormone replacement decreases it is uncertain.
How: The USPSTF recommendation statement follows a review of evidence from clinical trials on the benefits and harms of hormone therapy taken orally or applied through the skin.
Related material
The following related elements from The JAMA Network are also available on the For The Media website:
-- Hormone Therapy for the Primary Prevention of Chronic Conditions in Postmenopausal Women - Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force
-- JAMA Editorial: Menopausal Hormone Therapy for Primary Prevention of Chronic Disease
-- JAMA Cardiology Editorial: Menopausal Hormone Therapy for the Primary Prevention of Chronic Conditions
-- JAMA Internal Medicine Editorial: Evidence for Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy to Prevent Chronic Conditions
-- JAMA Patient Page: Hormone Therapy for Primary Prevention of Chronic Conditions in Postmenopausal Women
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For more details and to read the full report, please visit the For The Media website.
(doi:10.1001/jama.2017.18261)
Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
Note: More information about the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, its process, and its recommendations can be found on the newsroom page of its website.
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