Treatment patterns of hormone therapy for menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms: analysis of the HIRA database in South Korea.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to describe treatment patterns of hormone therapy (HT) prescribed for menopause-associated vasomotor symptoms (VMS), characteristics of women who received HT and events of interest using the Health Insurance and Review Assessment (HIRA) database in South Korea.

Methods: Eligible patients were women aged 40-65 years who were first dispensed HT in 2015 and diagnosed with menopause-associated VMS. Patients were followed until death or the end of the data period, 31 December 2020, whichever occurred earlier.

Results: The analyses included 102,535 patients. Median age at VMS diagnosis was 52 years. Time from diagnosis to HT dispensation was <3 months in 77.6% (n = 79,559) of patients; 51.3% (n = 52,648) received HT for <3 months and 27.9% (n = 28,634) for >1 year. Most patients (60.5%, n = 62,064) had a medical condition of interest at baseline; 27.0% (n = 27,655) had a contraindication and 39.7% (n = 40,667) had a precaution for HT. Tibolone and combined estrogen with progestogen were the most common HTs.

Conclusion: While the number of patients who received HT constituted approximately 1% of the estimated 9.31 million menopausal population in South Korea, most patients prescribed HT had a medical condition of interest at baseline that was a contraindication or precaution for HT. There is a need to identify additional well-tolerated, effective alternatives.