MENOPAUSE HORMONE THERAPY AND COMPLEMENTARY ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND RACIAL/ETHNIC DIFFERENCES: THE STUDY OF WOMEN'S HEALTH ACROSS THE NATION (SWAN)
A SWAN survey was completed by 2,514 midlife women with vasomotor and/or genitourinary symptoms of menopause from seven sites across the United States to investigate a relationship between hormone therapy or complementary alternative medicine and self-reported quality of life, and if race/ethnicity influences hormone therapy and complementary alternative medicine’s relationship with quality of life. The major findings from the study include: across all ethnicities/races, neither contemporary alternative medicine nor hormone therapy were associated with self-reported quality of life; white women using hormone therapy reported higher quality of life; Black and Hispanic women reported the lowest use of hormone therapy but more frequent menopausal symptoms, compared to other ethnicities and races.