[Clinical and therapeutic experience during two years at the "Consultation Center" for the study of menopausal and postmenopausal problems established at the USL 19 in East Bologna].
The authors analyse two years' activities at the outpatient clinic set up for the prevention of menopause-related disorders at Mazzacorati Family Planning Clinic (USL 29-Bologna). They emphasise the fact that menopause is characterised by a complex interaction of biological, psychic and socio-cultural aspects with the result that requests for consultancy are extremely varied and sometimes, at least apparently, even contradictory. From these findings it emerges that in a sample of 440 women attending the centre, 28% requested information sessions and a further 10% expressed the need for a discussion focused on sexual problems. Moreover, while "hormone" therapy is currently positively accepted by the majority of women, the percentage of women refusing or suspending treatment is not negligible. It is worth recalling that 38% of women in pre-menopause, albeit strongly motivated to use an oral contraceptive, did not start treatment or suspended it within the first 6 months, although no collateral effects were reported, and 24% of women in spontaneous postmenopause did not commence hormone replacement therapy or suspended it in spite of having reached an acceptable level of wellbeing.