Trends in Prescription Drug Use Among Adults in the United States From 1999-2012

It is important to document patterns of prescription drug use to inform both clinical practice and research.

To evaluate trends in prescription drug use among adults living in the United States. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Temporal trends in prescription drug use were evaluated using nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants included 37,959 noninstitutionalized US adults, aged 20 years and older. Seven NHANES cycles were included (1999-2000 to 2011-2012), and the sample size per cycle ranged from 4861 to 6212. EXPOSURES: Calendar year, as represented by continuous NHANES cycle. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Within each NHANES cycle, use of prescription drugs in the prior 30 days was assessed overall and by drug class. Temporal trends across cycles were evaluated. Analyses were weighted to represent the US adult population.