USE OF MENOPAUSAL ESTROGENS AND MEDROXYPROGESTERONE IN THE UNITED-STATES, 1982-1992

Objective: To describe trends in the prescription of menopausal estrog ens and medroxyprogesterone in the United States. Methods: Annual esti mates of the number of prescriptions for menopausal estrogens and medr oxyprogesterone and descriptive information on patients and providers were obtained from two pharmaceutical marketing research data bases, t he National Prescription Audit and the National Disease and Therapeuti c Index of IMS America. Results: An estimated 13.6 million prescriptio ns were dispensed for oral menopausal estrogens in 1982, and 31.7 mill ion in 1992, a 2.3-fold increase (P = .0001). In 1992 Premarin, the on ly oral conjugated estrogen currently approved for use, was the most f requently dispensed brand-name pharmaceutical in the United States. Di spensed prescriptions for Estraderm, a transdermal estradiol first mar keted in 1986, increased from 1.5 million in 1987 to 4.7 million in 19 92. Dispensed prescriptions for oral medroxyprogesterone also increase d from 2.3 million prescriptions in 1982 to 11.3 million in 1992, a 4. 9-fold increase (P = .0001). An estimated one in six to one in four po stmenopausal women were taking menopausal hormones in 1992. These drug s were prescribed mainly by obstetrician-gynecologists. Conclusion: Th e use of menopausal estrogens and medroxyprogesterone has increased su bstantially over the past decade. These trends indicate that American women are widely exposed to menopausal hormone replacement.