Friday, March 25, 2016

According to a recent study comparing the use of prescription and over-the-counter medications ....

... by older adults ages 62 to 85 in 2005-2006 to their use in 2010-2011:

  • 84.1% of older adults used at least 1 prescription medication in 2005-2006 compared to 87.7% in 2010-2011
  • Concurrent use of at least 5 prescription medications rose from 30.6% in 2005-2006 to 35.8% in 2010-2011
  • Use of over-the-counter medications fell from 44.4% to 37.9%
  • Use of dietary supplements rose from 51.8% to 63.7%
  • About 15.1% of older adults were at risk for a potential major drug-drug interaction in 2010-2011, compared with about 8.4% at risk in 2005-2006

Source: "Changes in Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medication and Dietary Supplement Use Among Older Adults in the United States, 2005 vs 2011," JAMA Internal Medicine, abstract only, March 21, 2016, http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2500064

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