Hormone Replacement Therapy on Cardiovascular Events - Essay Example

Article Analysis: Effect of hormone replacement therapy on cardiovascular events in recently postmenopausal women: randomised trial Institution Course Date Article Analysis: Effect of hormone replacement therapy on cardiovascular events in recently postmenopausal women: randomised trial Introduction This paper critically analyses an article by Schierbeck et al. titled Effect of hormone replacement therapy on cardiovascular events in recently postmenopausal women: randomised trial. The article reports the findings of an empirical study that sought to examine how hormone replacement therapy affected cardiovascular outcomes, in the long term, among women that had recently reached menopause (Schierbeck, et al., 2012). The researchers justified the study on the basis of a knowledge gap that existed in the topic. Prior to their study, a few facts were known: several observational studies had consistently indicated that hormone replacement therapy (HRP) reduced the risk of coronary heart diseases in women. Randomised trials had shown a null effect, although the majority of women in the studies were aged over 60 and, therefore, over ten-year post menopause. Randomised HRT trials and meta-analyses indicated that when initiated in women aged below 60 or within ten years of menopause, HRT reduced the risk of CHD and total mortality(Schierbeck, et al., 2012). Thus, the study sought to add to the existing knowledge the effect of HRT on the incidence of CHD in women who had recently reached menopause. Had the study been designed to last over a shorter duration, the results would have been different. The article under review is analysed under the following headings: methods of data collection and analysis, results, discussion and conclusion. In analysing the article, reference is made to five similar scholarly articles and how those articles approached the various sections. The author then concludes by summing up the article’s main strengths and limitations. Analysis Methods of Data Collection and Analysis The study leading to the article being analysed was a part of the Danish Osteoporosis Prevention Study, a prospective study carried out at several centres and which sought to evaluate the prospects of HRT as a means of preventing osteoporotic fractures (Schierbeck, et al., 2012). The study was conducted between 1990 and 1993 and involved 2016 women. To be considered, a woman had to meet certain criteria: she had to be healthy, white, aged between 45 and 58, and experienced her last menstrual bleeding 3-24 months prior to participating in the study or premenopausal symptoms such as irregular menstruations. As an exception, women aged between 45 and 52 were included if they had had hysterectomy and had a history of their hormone levels being stimulated by serum follicle(Schierbeck, et al., 2012). A woman was excluded if she had: a history of bone disease, an uncontrolled chronic disease, past or ongoing treatment with glucocorticoids for over six months, suffered from cancer at any point in her life, undergone HRT within the three months leading to her participation in the study and drug or alcohol dependency. As can be seen, the study was highly controlled. Of the 2016 women enrolled into the study, 1006 were randomly picked to receive HRT(Schierbeck, et al., 2012). Of these, 502 were placed under treatment while the remaining 506 received no treatment that is, they served as the control group. The remaining 1010 women had the choice of either undergoing HRT or not. The article being analysed reported only the results from the randomised groups. Upon entering the survey, each participant underwent physical examination and was screened biochemically. Each participant was then seen six months, one year and 2, 3, 5 and ten years after being recruited into the study. An individuals participation in the study ended with the occurrence of either of two events: death, or hospitalisation as a result of heart failure or myocardial infarction (Schierbeck, et al., 2012). The monitoring of participants ended on June 16, 2008 and data on all participants was retrieved from the Danish civil registration database and the national register of hospital discharge. Data relating to the randomised participants were analysed from the onset of the study to the first day of August, 2002, almost a decade later. In order to capture the long term effects, secondary analyses were conducted for another six years until 2008 (Schierbeck, et al., 2012). Analyses were carried out using various techniques. Dichotomous variables were tested using a χ2 test while continuous variables were tested using the t test. P Read More