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Objective To describe trends in the prevalence of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use among women living in Britain between 1981 and 1990, and to determine whether women who receive HRT are different from those who do not.

Design Population‐based, prospective, observational study.

Setting Fourteen hundred general practices throughout the United Kingdom contributing data to the Oral Contraception Study of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

Population Prevalence of use: women still under general practitioner observation in the Oral Contraception Study at the end of December 1981 (n= 19,949), 1984 (n= 18,037), 1987 (n= 16,063), 1990 (n= 13,379). Characteristics of users: 3806 HRT users and 3806 never‐users matched for age, hysterectomy status and duration of observation in the Oral Contraception Study.

Main outcome measure Ever‐use of hormone …