Women's Health Initiative — WHI
L-R: The late Dr. Catherine Allen (former Principal Investigator)
and Dr.Gloria Sarto (current Principal Investigator)
UW Madison was one of 40 sites, nationally, to participate in the landmark WHI study. The study was the largest, most definitive long-term study of postmenopausal women’s health ever undertaken in the US. Launched in 1992, it was designed to study the risks and benefits of strategies that could potentially reduce the incidence of heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer and fractures (the major causes of death, disability and impaired quality of life in older women in the US).
161, 809 postmenopausal women, aged 50-79 enrolled in the study nationally. The Madison WHI Clinical Center enrolled 3530 women.
WHI consisted of two major study components:
- Randomized Clinical Trial (including 3 separate trials) – 68,132 women participated nationally, 1549 at the Madison WHI Clinical Center
- Hormone Trial – two separate double-blinded clinical trials – 27,347 participants nationally, with 656 at the Madison WHI Clinical Center
- Estrogen Plus Progestin hormone therapy vs placebo
- The initial findings were published in JAMA in July 2002
[http://www.whi.org/findings/ht/eplusp.php] - Estrogen Alone hormone therapy vs placebo
- The initial findings were published in JAMA in April 2004
[http://www.whi.org/findings/ht/ealone.php] - Dietary Modification Trial – evaluated effect of low-fat diet, high in fruits, vegetables and grains vs. usual diet in 48, 835 women, nationally, 1073 at the Madison WHI Clinical Center
- The initial findings were published in JAMA in February 2006
[http://www.whi.org/findings/dm/dm.php] - Calcium/Vitamin D Study – double-blinded clinical trial comparing 500 mg Calcium carbonate + 200 mg Vitamin D vs. placebo
- 45, 000 women, nationally;896 at Madison WHI Clinical Center
- The initial findings were published in NEJM in February 2006
[http://www.whi.org/findings/cad/cad.php]
- Observational Study – examined the relationship between lifestyle, health and risk factors and specific disease outcomes by tracking medical history and health habits of 93,676 women nationally, 1983 at the Madison WHI Clinical Center
A number of papers have been published based on data from this cohort:
[http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/references.htm].
