Prevention & lipidsCohort study

Contemporary menopausal hormone therapy and risk of cardiovascular disease: Swedish nationwide register based emulated target trial

BMJPublished

  • Nationwide register based emulated target trial
  • 138 nested trials
  • Swedish national registries

Authors' conclusion

Use of oral oestrogen-progestin therapy was associated with an increased risk of heart disease and venous thromboembolism, whereas the use of tibolone was associated with an increased risk of ischaemic heart disease, cerebral infarction, and myocardial infarction but not venous thromboembolism.

Study context

Population
Women aged 50–58, 2007–2020, no hormone therapy use in the previous two years, Swedish population77,512 initiators
Participants
919,614 women
Exposure
Initiators of contemporary menopausal hormone therapy vs non-initiators
  • Non-initiatorsn = 842,102reference
Outcome
VTE, ischaemic heart disease, cerebral infarction, MI, and composite CVD

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

Each group vs non-initiatorsHazard ratio (95% CI)
TiboloneCVD; ITT
1.52(1.11–2.08)
Tiboloneischaemic heart disease; ITT
1.46(1.00–2.14)
Oral oestrogen-progestin therapyischaemic heart disease; ITT
1.21(1.00–1.46)
Oral combined continuousVTE; ITT
1.61(1.35–1.92)
Oral combined sequentialVTE; ITT
2.00(1.61–2.49)
Oestrogen-only therapyVTE; ITT
1.57(1.02–2.44)
Women with an event during follow-up
24 089

Observational data: associations, not effects.

Further findings

OutcomeHR (95% CI)
Cerebral infarction and MI (per protocol) — Tibolone · cerebral infarction · per protocol: continuous users vs never users1.97 (1.02–3.78)
Cerebral infarction and MI (per protocol) — Tibolone · MI · per protocol: continuous users vs never users1.94 (1.01–3.73)

Original publication

Contemporary menopausal hormone therapy and risk of cardiovascular disease: Swedish nationwide register based emulated target trial. BMJ. Published 27 November 2024. doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-078784

Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it