ABSTRACT
Menopause is a normal developmental process for women, in which a psychologic adjustment as well as physical and anatomic changes occur. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) deserves consideration as a component of preventive health care for older women, and its use after menopause can effectively reduce climactericrelated symptoms and therefore increase the quality of life.1 Nevertheless surveys generally show that only a small proportion of postmenopausal women use HRT and that longterm compliance to treatment is particularly low.2 The decrease in optimal prevention due to low compliance remains unknown and the reasons why patients do not pursue their treatment in the long run remain unclear.
