Table 2

Geometric mean plasma levels3 of E2, FSH, P4 and SHBG according to use of HRT among postmenopausal women

E2 dosage category

E2¤ nmol/L
FSHIU/L
P4 nmol/L
SHBGnmol/L

n
95% CI
95% CI
95% CI
95% CI

No HRT
2651
0.07 (0.06–0.07)
69.6 (65.9–73.5)
0,82 (0.76–0.89)
42.4 (40.2–44.8)
HRT





     HRT without E2
20
0.07 (0.06–0.08)
53.4 (44.0–64.9)
0,65 (0.49–0.87)
34.9 (28.7–42.4)
     Vaginal E2
5
0.07 (0.05–0.10)
70.4 (47.8–104)
0,99 (0.56–1.76)
33.4 (22.6–49.4)
     Patches
9
0.15 (0.12–0.19)
36.4 (27.3–48.5)
1,05 (0.68–1.61)
47.0 (35.1–62.8)
     Oral 1 mg
232
0.23 (0.20–0.27)
36.9 (30.6–44.6)
0,46 (0.35–0.60)
52.1 (43.4–62.5)
     Oral 2 mg
9
0.29 (0.22–0.38)
18.7 (14.1–25.0)
0,79 (0.51–1.21)
62.5 (46.8–83.6)
ANCOVA3

p < 0.01
p < 0.01
p < 0.01
p < 0.01

1FSH: n = 252

2 FSH: n = 21

3 Covariates included in addition to age: BMI, BMI and alcohol, ¤ BMI and BMI*age interaction term. Parity did not contribute significantly to the model for any of the analyses, and was omitted.

Waaseth et al. BMC Women's Health 2008 8:1   doi:10.1186/1472-6874-8-1