Fracture incidence in relation to the pattern of use of hormone therapy in postmenopausal women.
Banks E., Beral V., Reeves G., Balkwill A., Barnes I., Million Women Study Collaborators None.
CONTEXT: Evidence is limited on the effects of different patterns of use of postmenopausal hormone therapy on fracture incidence and particularly on the effects of ceasing use. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of different patterns of hormone therapy use on fracture incidence. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Prospective study of 138,737 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 69 years recruited from the UK general population in 1996-1998 (the Million Women Study) and followed up for 1.9 to 3.9 years (average, 2.8 years) for fracture incidence. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Adjusted relative risk (RR) for incident fracture (except fracture of the fingers, toes, and ribs) in hormone therapy users compared with never users at baseline. RESULTS: A total of 5197 women (3.7%) reported 1 or more fractures, 79% resulting from falls. Current users of hormone therapy at baseline had a significantly reduced incidence of fracture (RR, 0.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-0.66; P