Women's Health Initiative Why Now? What Is It? What's New?

• Published in: The American psychologist Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 101 - 116
• Main Authors: Matthews, Karen A, Shumaker, Sally A, Bowen, Deborah J, Langer, Robert D, Hunt, Julie R, Kaplan, Robert M, Klesges, Robert C, Ritenbaugh, Cheryl
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01-02-1997
• Subjects: Aged; Breast Neoplasms - prevention & control; Breast Neoplasms - psychology; Case studies; Climacteric - psychology; Colorectal Neoplasms - prevention & control; Colorectal Neoplasms - psychology; Coronary Disease - prevention & control; Coronary Disease - psychology; Early Intervention; Female; Forecasting; Health; Health Behavior; Health Care Services; Health Promotion - trends; Human; Human Females; Humans; Life Style; Menopause; Middle Aged; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal - prevention & control; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal - psychology; Postmenopausal women; Prevention; Psychology; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Studies; United States; USA; Women; Women's health; Women's Health Services - trends; United States
• ISSN: 0003-066X; 1935-990X
• DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.52.2.101

Studies collectively named the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) are currently enrolling 164,500 postmenopausal women in several overlapping clinical trials and an observational study. The overall goals of WHI are to understand the determinants of postmenopausal women's health and to evaluate the efficacy of practical interventions in preventing the major causes of morbidity and mortality in older women. This article reviews the research leading to the WHI studies; describes the study designs and protocols, with an emphasis on what's new about WHI from a psychological perspective; and outlines the major psychosocial hypotheses under investigation and the major challenges WHI presents to psychological science.