PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the magnitude of prescription drug misuse among Oklahoma high school students, examine associated risk factors, and inform state-based prevention strategies. METHODS Data from the 2013 Oklahoma Youth Risk Behavior Survey were used for this analysis and were representative of public school students in grades 9 through 12 in Oklahoma. Variables we...

Policymakers have devoted much attention recently to expanding outpatient prescription drug coverage for elderly persons. New findings from the 2000-01 Community Tracking Study household survey show that many nonelderly adults also have problems affording prescription drugs. The problem is particularly serious among persons who are uninsured or enrolled in Medicaid, of whom about one out of fou...

BACKGROUND: Prescription drug misuse among young adults is increasingly viewed as a public health concern, yet most research has focused on student populations and excluded high-risk groups. Furthermore, research on populations who report recent prescription drug misuse is limited. This study examined patterns of prescription drug misuse among high-risk young adults in Los Angeles (LA) and New ...

background and objectives: the expanding field of psychopharmacology is constantly seeking new and improved drugs to treat psychiatric disorders. although psychotropic drugs have had a remarkable impact in psychiatry, their utilization, effectiveness, and side effects in the in clinical practice need continuous study. the present study was thus designed to analyze the pattern of psychotropic dr...

despite increased availability of online promotional tools for prescription drug marketers, evidence on online prescription drug promotion is far from settled or conclusive. we highlight ways in which online prescription drug promotion is similar to conventional broadcast and print advertising and ways in which it differs. we also highlight five key areas for future research: branded drug websi...

KEY FINDINGS Over the last 10 years, the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44% to 48%. The use of two or more drugs increased from 25% to 31%. The use of five or more drugs increased from 6% to 11%. In 2007-2008, 1 out of every 5 children and 9 out of 10 older Americans reported using at least one prescription drug in the past month...

BACKGROUND Medicare beneficiaries without prescription drug coverage consistently fill fewer prescriptions than beneficiaries with some form of drug coverage due to cost. ESRD patients, who are disproportionately poor and typically use multiple oral medications, would likely benefit substantially from any form of prescription drug coverage. Because most hemodialysis patients are Medicare-eligib...

BACKGROUND Despite Canada's universal health insurance coverage, many Canadians still report an unmet need for health care. I investigated whether not having prescription drug insurance increases the likelihood of reporting an unmet need for health care. I hypothesized that people without prescription drug insurance would be more likely than those with insurance to report an unmet health care n...