Trends in psychotropic medication use among U.S. adults

• Published in: Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety Vol. 16; no. 5; pp. 560 - 570
• Main Authors: Paulose-Ram, Ryne, Safran, Marc A., Jonas, Bruce S., Gu, Qiuping, Orwig, Denise
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-05-2007
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; African Americans - statistics & numerical data; Age Factors; antidepressants; Drug Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data; Drug Therapy - methods; Drug Therapy - statistics & numerical data; Drug Therapy - trends; drug utilization; Drug Utilization Review - methods; Drug Utilization Review - statistics & numerical data; European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Female; Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders - drug therapy; Mental Disorders - ethnology; Middle Aged; NHANES; population; Prevalence; psychopharmacology; Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use; psychotropics; Reproducibility of Results; Sex Factors; Time Factors; United States - epidemiology; United States
• ISSN: 1053-8569; 1099-1557
• DOI: 10.1002/pds.1367

Purpose
To examine trends and prevalence of prescription psychotropic medication use among noninstitutionalized US adults.
Methods
Prescription medication data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; 1988–1994; n = 20 050) and the 1999–2002 NHANES (n = 12 060), two nationally representative cross‐sectional health examination surveys, were examined for persons aged ≥17 years.
Results
The age‐adjusted prevalence of psychotropic medication use increased from 6.1% in 1988–1994 to 11.1% in 1999–2002 (p < 0.001). This was due to more than a three‐fold increase in antidepressant use (2.5%, 1988–1994 vs. 8.1%, 1999–2002 (p < 0.001)). Significant increases between time periods for antidepressant use were seen for all age, gender, and race‐ethnic groups although increases were less pronounced for males than females and non‐Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans than non‐Hispanic whites. Prevalence of use remained relatively constant from 1988–1994 to 1999–2002 for anxiolytic/sedative/hypnotic (ASH) medications (3.5–3.8%), antipsychotics (0.8–1.0%), and antimanic agents (0.3–0.4%). The age‐adjusted prevalence of multiple psychotropic medication use increased from 1.2% in 1988–1994 to 3.1% in 1999–2002 (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Psychotropic medication use among US adults increased since 1988–1994, specifically of antidepressants. Increases varied by gender and race‐ethnicity indicating under‐utilization for non‐Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans compared to non‐Hispanic whites for both males and females. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.