Health Outcomes as Drivers of Trends in Hormone Therapy Use

The use of combined estrogen–progestin therapy has varied greatly during the past few decades. Researchers evaluated U.S. trends in hormone therapy (HT) use by user age and calendar year between 1970 and 2010. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the National Prescription Audit were combined in an analysis targeting use of noncontraceptive estrogen–progestin preparations of HT.

Before 1980, prevalence of HT use was <1% regardless of a woman's age but increased almost threefold between 1990 and 1999. For women aged 45 to 64, absolute changes in prevalence of HT were 4.4% (1980 to 1990) and 8.8% (1990 to 2000), peaking at an overall prevalence of 13.5% in 1999. Fewer than 5% of women aged ≤45 or ≥75 reported using…