Drugs are widely used to treat acute and chronic conditions in older people. However, the incidence of adverse drug reactions increases with age a frequent cause hospital admission, especially patients multimorbidity polypharmacy. Many these could potentially be prevented. A prescription is considered inappropriate an person if it carries significant risk producing reaction, when safer alternat...

Data from the 2001 College Alcohol Study, a national sample of U.S. college students, were used to conduct multinomial logistic regression analysis examining correlates of substance use. Students were divided into three groups based on their lifetime substance use: non-users, non-medical prescription drug use only, and illicit/street drug use only. The purpose of this analytic strategy was to e...

CONTEXT Self-prescription is common among practicing physicians, but little is known about the practice among resident physicians. OBJECTIVE To determine prescription drug use and self-prescription among US resident physicians. DESIGN AND SETTING Anonymous mail survey of all resident physicians in 4 US categorical internal medicine training programs in February 1997. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES...

Medicare beneficiaries used prescription drug discount cards, both Medicare and non-Medicare cards, to assist them in paying for the cost of prescription drugs. This article describes the beneficiary's awareness and understanding, sources of information, and experience with drug discount cards a year prior and during the implementation of the Medicare-Approved Prescription Drug Discount Card pr...

BACKGROUND People without prescription drug coverage face greater financial burdens and may sometimes be unable to follow the courses of treatment prescribed by their physicians. The U.S. legislature is considering Medicare coverage for prescription drugs and the use of managed care approaches for containing costs associated with senior citizens. prescription drug therapy. OBJECTIVE The purpo...

OBJECTIVES The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act will provide drug benefits for a large proportion of persons aged 65 years and older in the United States. Few studies have examined the beliefs and attitudes of older adults with respect to prescription drug insurance programs. The objective of this study was to better understand the nature and range of older adults. b...

P rescription drugs are playing an increasingly greater role in the health care delivery system: not only are more Americans using prescription medicines than ever before, but the number of prescriptions per user has increased as has the number of days of therapy per prescription. Between 1977 and 1998, the proportion of Americans taking at least one prescription rose from 58 to 66 percent and ...

The Medicare Part D prescription drug program was implemented in 2006 to provide prescription drug coverage for elderly and disabled citizens. Recent data indicate that Part D provides prescription drug coverage for 3.4 million American seniors who did not otherwise have prescription insurance.1 Analyses of prescription claims data suggest that Part D has increased prescription drug utilization...

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of increased prescription drug copayments on the therapeutic classes of drugs received and health status of the elderly. HYPOTHESES TESTED: Increased prescription drug copayments will reduce the relative exposure to, annual days use of, and prescription drug costs for drugs used in self-limiting conditions, but will not affect drugs used in progressive chronic con...