The effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy on social activity, partner relationship, and sexual life – experience from the EPHT trial

Table 4 Sexual life, experiences and views¹ in the four groups

	Blind sub-trial		Non-blind sub-trial		HT vs. no HT⁹
	HT, %	Placebo, %	HT, %	None-treatment, %	OR (95% CI)
1 ^st year
No intercourse past year²	29	30	27	25	1.11 (0.87–1.42)
Not sexually active³	59	65	52	59	0.82 (0.67–1.00)
Satisfied with sexual relationship⁴	25	18¹⁰	19	21	1.11 (0.85–1.43)
Lost interest in sex⁵	39	45	41	44	0.91 (0.75–1.12)
Sex not important, in general⁶	29	21¹¹	28	27	1.17 (0.91–1.50)
Final survey
No intercourse past year²	45	52	47	52	0.77 (0.62–0.95)
Partner has difficulties⁷	18	17	16	15	1.03 (0.78–1.37)
Not satisfied with partner as a lover⁸	13	10	11	12	1.24 (0.93–1.65)

¹ For the denominators, see Table 3.
² From the question: "During the past 12 months I have had pains during intercourse"; no information 1.7% (1^st year) and 3.3% (final).
³ From the question: "I am satisfied with my current sexual relationship"; includes no information group.
⁴ From the question: "I am satisfied with my current sexual relationship", definitely; no partner or no information: 58% (WHQ).
⁵ From the question: "I have lost interest in sexual activity", definitely (WHQ).
⁶ From the question: "In my age, sexual life is not so important any more", totally agree, (Q49).
⁷ From the question: "Does your partner experience difficulty in sexual performance?", rather much; no partner or no information: 49%.
⁸ From the question: "Are you satisfied with your partner as a lover?"; not at all; no partner or no information: 46%.
⁹ Age-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals), combining the blind and non-blind arms, non-HT group is the reference.
¹⁰ P-value = 0.05.
¹¹ P-value = 0.04.

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