Prevalence of Over-the-Counter and Prescription Medication Use in the US - PubMed
5 days ago
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- #medication-use
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- Nearly 2 of 3 US adults reported medication use in the past 7 days.
- Past-7-day prevalence of OTC and prescription medication use was similar (46.0% and 46.3%, respectively).
- Female individuals reported higher medication use (66.6%) compared to male individuals (57.3%).
- 16.3% of participants reported using 5 or more medications, and 3.3% reported using 10 or more.
- The most reported OTC medications were acetaminophen (29.4%), ibuprofen (22.3%), and aspirin (15.8%).
- The most reported prescription medications were atorvastatin (6.4%), lisinopril (5.5%), levothyroxine (5.2%), and amlodipine (4.6%).
- Six of the top 10 most prevalent medications were available OTC.
- The study highlights the importance of accessibility and monitoring benefits and risks of medication use.