Menopausal experiences: A comparison of White and Black women utilizing theory of planned behavior and other predictor variables

The first purpose of this study was to determine if, above and beyond the variables from the Theory of Planned Behavior, race and other predictor variables would significantly increase the discrimination of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) user groups.; The sample consisted of 641 women representing diversity in age, race, education, and socioeconomic status drawn from an employee directory of a large community college. A survey was developed to extract the data.; Discriminate function analysis revealed that perceived behavior control, physicians as a source of information, and positive attitudes toward HRT most clearly separated the women into distinct HRT status groups. Based on findings from the discriminant function analysis, a distinct profile was developed for four of the HRT groups. The profiles were based on a summary interpretation of structure coefficients, classification results, and group centroids. These groups included: current users, previous users, never users who have made a decision, and never users who are undecided.; The second purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences existed in symptomatology and HRT usage between White and Black women. Results from a MANOVA revealed a significant difference between these two groups of women. Further examination of the variables revealed that White women were significantly more likely to use HRT, had more positive attitudes toward HRT, and relied more on various sources of information concerning HRT.; Results of this study indicate that various psychosocial factors are involved in determining women's decisions to use HRT. It also revealed that women in all stages of menopause are still undecided about using HRT as over 50% of the women were in this HRT status group.