Objective: The purposes of this study were to (1) validate components of a decision process regarding adoption of hormone therapy and (2) compare the decision processes women used with respect to their evaluation of decision quality.
Design: A sample of women participating in a population-based study of midlife women's health participated in individual in-depth interviews.
Results: Content analysis of 30 recorded interviews provided evidence that each component of the decision process (precontemplation, contemplation, commitment, critical evaluation, and continuance) was replicated. Few additional codes were identified, and these could be subsumed under the phases of the original decision model.
Conclusions: Women's self-reported statuses on a screening questionnaire corresponded to the stages of the decision model coded from their interviews. What women actually decided to do (use hormone therapy or something else) was not associated with their decision process. Satisfaction with the decision, uncertainty about the decision, and other factors related to the decision were independent of the decision phases.