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Significant increase in prescription drug use found among US adults

Prescription drug use, particularly use of antihypertensives, antihyperlipidemics, and antidepressants, has increased substantially since 1999 among adults, according to recently published data in JAMA. 

“In this nationally representative survey, significant increases in overall prescription drug use and polypharmacy were observed. These increases persisted after accounting for changes in the age distribution of the population. The prevalence of prescription drug use increased in the majority of, but not all, drug classes,” Elizabeth D. Kantor, PhD, MPH, department of epidemiology and biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues wrote.

Elizabeth D. Kantor

Kantor and colleagues analyzed data from the 1999 through 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) to assess trends and changes in prescription drug use and polypharmacy among noninstitutionalized adults, aged 20 years and older, living in the United States. (n = 37,959). Polypharmacy was defined as use of five or more prescription medications.

Results demonstrated that between 2011 and 2012, 59% of participants reported using any prescription medication within the previous 30 days, up from 51% between 1999 and 2000, and 8% difference (95% CI, 3.8-12). Fifteen percent of adults reported polypharmacy between 2011 and 2012, up from 8.2% between 1999 and 2000, a 6.6% difference (95% CI, 4.4-8.2).

Significant increases in prescription drug use were seen in adults aged 40 to 65 years and those aged 65 years and older, but not in adults aged 20 to 39 years.

Antidepressant use increased from 6.8% to 13%, antihypertensive use increased from 20% to 27% and antihyperlipidemic use increased from 6.9% to 17% from 1999-2000 to 2011-2012, according to the researchers.

Increases in use were seen among 11 out of 18 drug classes that were used by more than 2.5% of participants, including antihyperlipidemic agents, antidepressants, prescription proton-pump inhibitors and muscle relaxants, according to the researchers.

“Prescription drug use among U.S. adults increased between 1999 and 2012. We observed not just an increase in any prescription drug use, but also observed an increase in polypharmacy, or use of five or more drugs. These increases persisted even after accounting for the changing age structure of the U.S. population, suggesting that there's something beyond the aging of the U.S. population driving the observed increase in prescription drug use.  I think that the implications vary by class of drugs. Each trend has to be considered on its own, but we can see that use did increase across the majority of drug classes, which I think is interesting in and of itself,” Kantor told Healio.com/Family Medicine. – by Casey Hower

Disclosures: Kantor reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.