In Nottingham we have assessed the acceptability of oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for an at-risk group of post-menopausal women for osteoporosis. One hundred post-menopausal women between the ages of 50 and 70 years who had sustained a distal radial fracture were offered oral HRT. There was a 36% overall uptake of HRT with 9% of patients unable to take HRT because they had medical contraindications. The uptake in the 50–55 year age group was 54%. We conclude that in prospective studies of HRT for osteoporosis up to 50% of patients may not wish to take HRT and therefore study design should allow for this level of uptake.
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