Hormone replacement therapy use and everyday memory in mid-aged New Zealand women : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

Abstract

There continues to be inconsistent evidence as to the extent that Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) may preserve memory performance in menopausal women. The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test-Extended Version (RBMT-E) is a new measure of everyday memory developed for normal populations. The RBMT-E was used to test the everyday memory in a sample of 104 mid-aged New Zealand women (53 HRT users & 51 non-users). Measures of mood, affect, stress, general health and menopausal symptoms as well as age and education were also taken to control for possible confounds. Results showed significant differences (p< 0.5) between the groups for three sub-tests: 'Story Immediate', 'Story Delayed', and 'Message Delayed'. After calculation of a total profile score and adjustments for age and IQ, HRT users scored more highly than non HRT users on the RBMT-E overall measure of Everyday Memory. Conclusions suggest that HRT use does show a relationship with verbal memory, and that the potentially beneficial effect may assist in the performance of everyday memory tasks.