1 Epidemiologic Studies Branch, Family Planning Evaluation Division, Bureau of Epidemiology, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta
It is estimated that each year approximately 20% of all 15- to 19-year-old American girls receive estrogens in the form of a pharmaceutical agent. The proportion of blacks in this age group who receive some form of estrogen therapy is estimated at 36%. The great majority of estrogen use is for the purposes of contraception and, to a lesser extent, suppression of lactation following childbirth. Less than 1% of the girls in this age group receive estrogen for treatment of medical conditions.