Trends in oral and vaginally administered estrogen use among US women 50 years of age or older with commercial health insurance.

Objective: We aimed to provide information through 2015 about use in the United States of estrogen products, including orally and vaginally administered products, in postmenopausal women.

Methods: We used prescription claims for US commercial health insurance to calculate, in women 50 years of age or older (n = 12,007,364), the age-standardized and age-specific annual prevalence of estrogen use, by formulation and route of administration, for the period 2006 through 2015.

Results: The age-standardized annual prevalence of a prescription claim for oral estrogens declined over time, from 83 per 1,000 women in 2007 to 42 per 1,000 women in 2015.