Specific and total carotenoid intakes among oral contraceptive and estrogen hormone users in the United States

To compare carotenoid intakes between hormone users and nonusers in a nationally representative sample of US women by demographic and lifestyle characteristics and to identify those with potentially greater risk for disease.Data from the 1987 National Health Interview Survey's-Epidemiology Supplement food frequency questionnaire were linked to the USDA-NCI Carotenoid database to estimate mean total and specific carotenoid intakes.Women (n = 8,962) were grouped by menopausal status and classified by hormone use into premenopausal oral contraceptive users/nonusers (n = 5,918) and postmenopausal estrogen replacement hormone users/nonusers (n = 3,044).Mean carotenoid intakes and standard errors were weighted using SUDAAN and adjusted for potential confounding factors using multiple linear regression analysis. Statistically significant differences were at p values < 0.01.Compared to nonusers, oral contraceptive users had lower specific carotenoid intakes. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics differed betw...