Informed or alarmed - how did women react to media reports on HRT?

6-August-2002

Australian women recently awoke to sensational headlines about a possible link between HRT and cancer (e.g., "Alarm Over HRT Cancer Risk" - Sydney Morning Herald, "Hormone Alert for Cancer" - The Australian).

This media coverage was in response to a media release issued by the American Medical Association on 9 July 2002, which reported that the Women's Health Initiative study of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had been stopped early, because the risks of continuing the study were found to outweigh the benefits. Various elements of the story continued to feature in the first 10 pages of the major newspapers for the following week, with health experts debating the implications of the study's findings.

The Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Wollongong is conducting a study of women's reactions to this recent media coverage and their understanding of the effects of taking HRT.

Sandra Jones, a Research Fellow with the University's Graduate School of Public Health, said that this is an important issue as "the media are an important source of health information for many women - media stories and reports influence women's perceptions of personal susceptibility to health conditions and their choice of appropriate health-protective behaviours."

She said that a survey conducted by the National Breast Cancer Centre in the mid-1990s found that the media were the most common source of advice about breast cancer for Australian women.
The researchers would like to speak to women who:

• are or were using HRT at the time of the media reports
• have previously used HRT
• are or were considering using HRT

Ms Jones is asking for women who are interested in taking part in the survey to call her on 4221 4209. The interview will take approximately 5-7 minutes. The survey is anonymous, and women are not required to give their names. A summary of the actual findings reported in the AMA's journal article will be provided to callers on request.

Contact for media enquiries:
Sandra Jones, Phone (02) 4221 4209 or 0402 848 743.