ArticleBMJ open2025
Does online information about hormone replacement therapy (or menopause hormone therapy) reflect indications from the British National Formulary and guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: a cross-sectional study of UK media.
Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Navigating Uncharted Waters: A Meta-Ethnography Exploring General Practitioners and Women's Experience of Perimenopause Consultations in General Practice.International journal of women's health · 2026Review
- "It's all about the money." Australian women's perspectives about menopause and the commercial determinants of health.Health promotion international · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo describe: (1) the most visible information (from individuals or organisations) on UK social media regarding hormone replacement therapy (HRT)/menopause hormone treatment for menopause; (2) claims made by these sources for HRT and testosterone outwith the indications specified by the British National Formulary (BNF) and the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (ie, vasomotor instability, vaginal dryness, low mood associated with the menopause and, for testosterone, low libido after treatment with HRT) and for use for the prevention of future ill health and (3) conflicts of interest of commentators.
designCross-sectional study.
settingOnline references to HRT, for use in menopause, in UK online media, comprising Facebook, Google, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, 30 top ranked hits between 1 January 2022 and 1 June 2023 and Twitter (X) up to 1 May 2024.
methodsIdentification of the most visible information was performed via online searching with the term 'HRT' using incognito searches within each modality. Statements making claims were identified and analysed as to whether they were congruent with BNF and NICE advice on indications for use. Declarations of interest were extracted from the source or searched for if not apparent using a standardised search strategy. Data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet. Summary and descriptive statistics were used to summarise the results, including description of origin and types of claims, percentage of claims in agreement with NICE/BNF indications, relationship to financial interests and readership data, where available.
results180 recommendations and/or claims for HRT were examined (30 from each of six platforms), made by professional individuals (53.4%), laypeople (41.7%) and patient, media and professional organisations (4.9%) completing the total. Overall, 67.2% of claims were outside of BNF/NICE recommendations. 139 (77.2%) were associated with a conflict of interest. In 117 cases, this was a conflict either directly or indirectly related to menopause, through provision of private practice, pharmaceutical industry funding or retail products marketed at the menopause.
conclusionsSocial media commonly contains claims for HRT outside BNF/NICE guidance. Conflicts of interest by commentators are also common, directly or indirectly related to menopause. Less than a quarter of media contained no commercial conflict. Policymakers should consider means to ensure that non-conflicted, evidence-based information is visible to professionals, patients and the public. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/r7e5c/).
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