Here are 8 key findings and statistics on prescription drug use trends in the U.S.
1. Between 1988-1994 and 2007-2010, the percentage of Americans reporting taking no prescription drugs in the past 30 days decreased from 60.9 percent to 52.5 percent.
2. Between those same time periods, the percentage of Americans reporting taking five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days increased from 4 percent to 10.1 percent.
3. Prescription drug use is correlated with age. While 76 percent of Americans under 18 reported no prescription drug use in the past 30 days, only 10.3 percent of Americans 65 years and older reported the same.
4. Conversely, 39.7 percent of Americans 65 years and older reported taking five or more drugs in the past 30 days, compared to 0.8 percent of children under 18.
5. Cardiovascular drugs are the most common prescription drugs used by Americans between 18 and 64 years (17.7 percent), as well as those 65 years and older (70.2 percent).
6. The second most commonly prescribed drugs are cholesterol-lowering (10.7 percent), followed by antidepressants (10.6 percent) and analgesics (10.5 percent). These percentages are for Americans between 18 and 64 years old.
7. Adults taking five or more drugs in the past month were more likely to be white (78.3 percent), female (58.2 percent) over 65 years old (47.5 percent), and reported “good” or “fair or poor” health (39.6 percent each).
8. In 2012, 22.4 percent of uninsured adults between ages 18 and 64 reported not getting needed prescription drugs due to cost, compared to 5 percent of adults who were insured for the whole year.
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