 |
 |

Effects of Estrogen Plus Progestin on Risk of Fracture and Bone Mineral Density
The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Trial
Jane A. Cauley, DrPH;
John Robbins, MD;
Zhao Chen, PhD;
Steven R. Cummings, MD;
Rebecca D. Jackson, MD;
Andrea Z. LaCroix, PhD, MPH;
Meryl LeBoff, MD;
Cora E. Lewis, MD, MSPH;
Joan McGowan, PhD;
Joan Neuner, MD, MPH;
Mary Pettinger, MS;
Marcia L. Stefanick, PhD;
Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD;
Nelson B. Watts, MD; for the Women's Health Initiative Investigators
JAMA. 2003;290:1729-1738.
Context In the Women's Health Initiative trial of estrogen-plus-progestin therapy, women assigned to active treatment had fewer fractures.
Objective To test the hypothesis that the relative risk reduction of estrogen plus progestin on fractures differs according to risk factors for fractures.
Design, Setting, and Participants Randomized controlled trial (September 1993-July 2002) in which 16 608 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years with an intact uterus at baseline were recruited at 40 US clinical centers and followed up for an average of 5.6 years.
Intervention Women were randomly assigned to receive conjugated equine estrogen, 0.625 mg/d, plus medroxyprogesterone acetate, 2.5 mg/d, in 1 tablet (n = 8506) or placebo (n = 8102).
Main Outcome Measures All confirmed osteoporotic fracture events that occurred from enrollment to discontinuation of the trial (July 7, 2002); bone mineral density (BMD), measured in a subset of women (n = 1024) at baseline and years 1 and 3; and a global index, developed to summarize the balance of risks and benefits to test whether the risk-benefit profile differed across tertiles of fracture risk.
Results Seven hundred thirty-three women (8.6%) in the estrogen-plus-progestin group and 896 women (11.1%) in the placebo group experienced a fracture (hazard ratio [HR], 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69-0.83). The effect did not differ in women stratified by age, body mass index, smoking status, history of falls, personal and family history of fracture, total calcium intake, past use of hormone therapy, BMD, or summary fracture risk score. Total hip BMD increased 3.7% after 3 years of treatment with estrogen plus progestin compared with 0.14% in the placebo group (P<.001). The HR for the global index was similar across tertiles of the fracture risk scale (lowest fracture risk tertile, HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.93-1.58; middle tertile, HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.04-1.46; highest tertile, HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.88-1.24) (P for interaction = .54).
Conclusions This study demonstrates that estrogen plus progestin increases BMD and reduces the risk of fracture in healthy postmenopausal women. The decreased risk of fracture attributed to estrogen plus progestin appeared to be present in all subgroups of women examined. When considering the effects of hormone therapy on other important disease outcomes in a global model, there was no net benefit, even in women considered to be at high risk of fracture.
Author Affiliations: Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa (Dr Cauley); Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento (Dr Robbins); Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman Arizona College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson (Dr Chen); Research Institute at California Pacific Medical Center and Department of Epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco (Dr Cummings); Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus (Dr Jackson); Women's Health Initiative Clinical Coordinating Center, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wash (Dr LaCroix and Ms Pettinger), Endocrine-Hypertension Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass (Dr LeBoff); Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham (Dr Lewis); National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Bethesda, Md (Dr McGowan); Department of Medicine and Center for Patient Care and Outcomes Research, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (Dr Neuner); Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif (Dr Stefanick); University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo (Dr Wactawski-Wende); and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio (Dr Watts).
RELATED ARTICLE
Effects of Estrogen Plus Progestin on Gynecologic Cancers and Associated Diagnostic Procedures: The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Trial
Garnet L. Anderson, Howard L. Judd, Andrew M. Kaunitz, David H. Barad, Shirley A. A. Beresford, Mary Pettinger, James Liu, S. Gene McNeeley, and Ana Maria Lopez
JAMA. 2003;290(13):1739-1748.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
 |
Circulating Levels of Inflammatory Markers Predict Change in Bone Mineral Density and Resorption in Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study
Ding et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2008;93:1952-1958.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
The Medical Management of Menopause: To Treat or Not To Treat?
BARLOW
Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2008;1127:134-139.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Health Risks and Benefits 3 Years After Stopping Randomized Treatment With Estrogen and Progestin
Heiss et al.
JAMA 2008;299:1036-1045.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Hormone Therapy, Dilemmas, Medical Decisions.
Schulkin
J Law Med Ethics 2008;36:73-88.
ASHP Therapeutic Position Statement on the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis in Adults
MacLaughlin and Raehl
Am J Health Syst Pharm 2008;65:343-357.
FULL TEXT
Systematic Review: Comparative Effectiveness of Treatments to Prevent Fractures in Men and Women with Low Bone Density or Osteoporosis
MacLean et al.
ANN INTERN MED 2008;148:197-213.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Differential Dietary Nutrient Intake according to Hormone Replacement Therapy Use: An Underestimated Confounding Factor in Epidemiologic Studies?
Vercambre et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2007;166:1451-1460.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Factors Associated With 5-Year Risk of Hip Fracture in Postmenopausal Women
Robbins et al.
JAMA 2007;298:2389-2398.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Bone Density in Breast Cancer: When to Intervene?
Gralow
JCO 2007;25:3194-3197.
FULL TEXT
The Impact of Estradiol on Bone Mineral Density Is Modulated by the Specific Estrogen Receptor-{alpha} Cofactor Retinoblastoma-Interacting Zinc Finger Protein-1 Insertion/Deletion Polymorphism
Grundberg et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2007;92:2300-2306.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Osteopenia
Khosla and Melton
NEJM 2007;356:2293-2300.
FULL TEXT
A 55-Year-Old Woman With Osteopenia
Cummings
JAMA 2006;296:2601-2610.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Osteoporosis Redux
Lentle and Worsley
JNM 2006;47:1945-1959.
FULL TEXT
Clinical Applications of Vertebral Fracture Assessment by Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry
Lewiecki and Laster
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2006;91:4215-4222.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Effects of Dehydroepiandrosterone Replacement Therapy on Bone Mineral Density in Older Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
Jankowski et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2006;91:2986-2993.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
HRT, osteoporosis and regulatory authorities Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Stevenson and on behalf of the International Consensus Group on
Hum Reprod 2006;21:1668-1671.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
The WHI and the Postmenopausal Woman: No Magic Bullet
JWatch Women's Health 2006;2006:1-1.
FULL TEXT
Calcium plus Vitamin D Supplementation and the Risk of Fractures
Jackson et al.
NEJM 2006;354:669-683.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Calcium plus Vitamin D for Postmenopausal Women -- Bone Appetit?
Finkelstein
NEJM 2006;354:750-752.
FULL TEXT
Endogenous Hormones, Muscle Strength, and Risk of Fall-Related Fractures in Older Women
Sipila et al.
J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2006;61:92-96.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Glucocorticoid-Induced Bone Loss in Dermatologic Patients: An Update
Summey and Yosipovitch
Arch Dermatol 2006;142:82-90.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Expression Profiling of Rat Femur Revealed Suppression of Bone Formation Genes by Treatment with Alendronate and Estrogen but Not Raloxifene
Helvering et al.
Mol. Pharmacol. 2005;68:1225-1238.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Prospective Cohort Study of Soy Food Consumption and Risk of Bone Fracture Among Postmenopausal Women
Zhang et al.
Arch Intern Med 2005;165:1890-1895.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Summary of the American College for Advancement in Medicine May 2005 Conference: Menopause, Andropause: Power in Transition
Feig et al.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2005;2:413-419.
FULL TEXT
Postmenopausal hormone therapy and body composition--a substudy of the estrogen plus progestin trial of the Women's Health Initiative
Chen et al.
Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2005;82:651-656.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Prevention of Bone Loss after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation by Calcium, Vitamin D, and Sex Hormone Replacement with or without Pamidronate
Kananen et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2005;90:3877-3885.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy by Postmenopausal Women After Publication of the Women's Health Initiative Trial
Ness et al.
J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2005;60:460-462.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial of Short-Term Graded Transdermal Estradiol in Healthy Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist-Suppressed Pre- and Postmenopausal Women: Effects on Serum Markers of Bone Turnover, Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I, and Osteoclastogenic Mediators
Liu et al.
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2005;90:1953-1960.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Estrogen Treatment for Urinary Incontinence: Never, Now, or in the Future?
DuBeau
JAMA 2005;293:998-1001.
FULL TEXT
Update in Endocrinology
Schlechte
ANN INTERN MED 2005;142:126-131.
FULL TEXT
Bone Mineral Density in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
Taveira-DaSilva et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2005;171:61-67.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Hormone Therapy Prescribing Patterns in the United States
Buist et al.
Obstet Gynecol 2004;104:1042-1050.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Osteoporosis
Obstet Gynecol 2004;104:66S-76S.
FULL TEXT
A Two-by-Two Factorial Trial Comparing Oral with Transdermal Estrogen Therapy and Fenretinide with Placebo on Breast Cancer Biomarkers
Decensi et al.
Clin. Cancer Res. 2004;10:4389-4397.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Fracture Incidence in Relation to the Pattern of Use of Hormone Therapy in Postmenopausal Women
Banks et al.
JAMA 2004;291:2212-2220.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Oestrogen plus progestin reduced risk of fracture in postmenopausal women
Papaioannou
Evid. Based Med. 2004;9:82-82.
FULL TEXT
Effects of Conjugated Equine Estrogen in Postmenopausal Women With Hysterectomy: The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Trial
The Women's Health Initiative Steering Committee
JAMA 2004;291:1701-1712.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Postmenopausal Estrogen for Treatment of Hot Flashes: Clinical Applications
Nelson
JAMA 2004;291:1621-1625.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Other articles noted: 14 Nov 2003 to 30 Jan 2004
Evid. Based Nurs. 2004;7:e2-e2.
FULL TEXT
Atoms
Bauchner
Arch. Dis. Child. 2004;89
:295-295.
FULL TEXT
Osteoporosis: An Under-appreciated Complication of Diabetes
Brown and Sharpless
Clin. Diabetes 2004;22:10-20.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
ABSTRACTS
Obstet Gynecol 2004;103:194-196.
FULL TEXT
WOMEN'S HEALTH INITIATIVE UPDATE: HT Reduces Fracture Risk
JWatch Women's Health 2003;2003:7-7.
FULL TEXT
Older Women with Fractures: Patients Falling Through the Cracks of Guideline-Recommended Osteoporosis Screening and Treatment
Feldstein et al.
JBJS 2003;85:2294-2302.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
|