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Only 5 per cent of senior Canadian women in five provinces are using hormone replacement therapy, a rate that has been declining since the publication of a damaging study several years ago, a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information says.

Women who still use hormone replacement therapy are more likely to use lower doses, according to the study, which chronicled the effect of a major 2002 study that demonstrated the risks of hormone replacement therapy outweighed the benefits.

The new study found the use of HRT by senior women in five provinces declined to 5 per cent from 14 per cent since the damaging study was published in 2002. The biggest drops were seen in the two years following the publication of that study, the health institute said.

“New evidence highlighting the potential risks of HRT, as well as its lack of benefit in preventing heart disease, has forced caregivers and patients to re-examine its use, particularly in elderly patients,” Jennifer Blake, obstetrician and gynecologist-in-chief at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, said in a statement.

In the past, hormone replacement treatments were widely used by women to relieve the symptoms of menopause.

Negative side effects of estrogen-only HRT were first reported in the 1970s, which led to the emergence of combination progestin and estrogen therapy.

But further research, including the 2002 study from the Women's Health Initiative, demonstrated that women using either type of HRT may be at an increased risk for coronary heart disease and stroke.

Since the publication of reports that HRT could bring more harm than benefit, many Canadian women have stopped using both types of HRT, CIHI said.

The majority of women who still use HRT are taking lower-dose versions of the treatments, the study said. Researchers found that nearly 40 per cent of senior women who were taking a higher dose version in 2000-2001 had switched to a lower dose by last year.

The new study examined the use of HRT by senior Canadian women in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Researchers examined public drug claims to determine how the use of HRT has changed since the emergence of data chronicling the risks the treatment may pose.