Prescription Drug Use

Prescription medications, when used as prescribed by a doctor, can effectively treat diseases, manage conditions, or relieve symptoms (1).

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Key Findings

Use of one or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days

Trend: 2001–2004 to 2017–March 2020

This line graph shows the percentage of people who used one or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days from 2001 through 2004 to 2017 through March 2020.

The age-adjusted percentage of people taking at least one prescription drug did not change significantly from 2001–2004 to 2017–March 2020. See Featured Chart for additional analysis.

SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. See Sources and Definitions, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and Health, United States, 2022 Table RxUse.

Estimates are based on the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. See Sources and Definitions, Population.
Age-adjusted estimates are presented to eliminate differences that result from changes in the distribution of age in the population over time. See Sources and Definitions, Age adjustment.
For information on the methods used to assess trends, see Sources and Definitions, Statistical testing.
The NHANES program suspended field operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, data collection for the 2019–2020 cycle was not completed. Consequently, data collected during 2019–March 2020 were combined with data from the 2017–2018 cycle to create a 2017–March 2020 prepandemic file. This file covers 3.2 years of data collection. For more information, see: “National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017–March 2020 Prepandemic File: Sample Design, Estimation, and Analytic Guidelines.”

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Use of three or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days

Trend: 2001–2004 to 2017–March 2020

This line graph shows the percentage of people who used three or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days from 2001 through 2004 to 2017 through March 2020.

The age-adjusted percentage of people taking three or more prescription drugs did not change significantly from 2001–2004 to 2017–March 2020. See Featured Chart for additional analysis.

Estimates are based on the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. See Sources and Definitions, Population.
Age-adjusted estimates are presented to eliminate differences that result from changes in the distribution of age in the population over time. See Sources and Definitions, Age adjustment.
For information on the methods used to assess trends, see Sources and Definitions, Statistical testing.
The NHANES program suspended field operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, data collection for the 2019–2020 cycle was not completed. Consequently, data collected during 2019–March 2020 were combined with data from the 2017–2018 cycle to create a 2017–March 2020 prepandemic file. This file covers 3.2 years of data collection. For more information, see: “National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017–March 2020 Prepandemic File: Sample Design, Estimation, and Analytic Guidelines.”

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Use of five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days

Trend: 2001–2004 to 2017–March 2020

This line graph shows the percentage of people who used five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days from 2001 through 2004 to 2017 through March 2020.

The age-adjusted percentage of people taking five or more prescription drugs increased from 9.2% in 2001–2004 to 11.7% in 2017–March 2020. See Featured Chart for additional analysis.

Estimates are based on the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. See Sources and Definitions, Population.
Age-adjusted estimates are presented to eliminate differences that result from changes in the distribution of age in the population over time. See Sources and Definitions, Age adjustment.
For information on the methods used to assess trends, see Sources and Definitions, Statistical testing.
The NHANES program suspended field operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, data collection for the 2019–2020 cycle was not completed. Consequently, data collected during 2019–March 2020 were combined with data from the 2017–2018 cycle to create a 2017–March 2020 prepandemic file. This file covers 3.2 years of data collection. For more information, see: “National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017–March 2020 Prepandemic File: Sample Design, Estimation, and Analytic Guidelines.”

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The percentages of people taking prescription drugs increased with age.

Figure is a three-panel chart with line graphs showing the percentage of people who used one or more (left graph), three or more (middle graph), and five or more (right graph) prescription drugs in the past 30 days, by age group from 2001 through 2004 to 2017 through March 2020. Age groups shown are 65 and older, 45 through 64, 18 through 44, and younger than 18 years.

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NOTE: “Stable” refers to no statistically significant trend during the period.

From 2001–2004 to 2017–March 2020, the percentage of people taking one or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days decreased for children and adolescents younger than age 18 years, from 23.9% in 2001–2004 to 21.7% in 2017–March 2020. The percentage of people taking one or more prescription drugs did not change significantly among adults ages 18–44, 45–64, or 65 and older.
For people taking three or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days, the percentage increased for adults age 65 and older, from 59.8% in 2001–2004 to 67.7% in 2017–March 2020. The percentage of people taking three or more prescription drugs did not change significantly for people younger than 18 years, 18–44, and 45–64.
From 2001–2004 to 2017–March 2020, the percentage of people taking five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days increased for adults ages 18–44, from 3.3% in 2001–2004 to 5.1% in 2017–March 2020, and for adults age 65 and older, from 33.3% to 43.0%. The percentage of people taking five or more drugs did not change significantly for those younger than 18 years or adults ages 45–64.

Estimates are based on the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. See Sources and Definitions, Population.
Age-adjusted estimates are presented to eliminate differences that result from changes in the distribution of age in the population over time. Some estimates are shown by a specific age group because of the strong effect of age on most health outcomes. See Sources and Definitions, Age adjustment.
For information on the methods used to assess trends, see Sources and Definitions, Statistical testing.
The NHANES program suspended field operations in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, data collection for the 2019–2020 cycle was not completed. Consequently, data collected during 2019–March 2020 were combined with data from the 2017–2018 cycle to create a 2017–March 2020 prepandemic file. This file covers 3.2 years of data collection. For more information, see: “National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2017–March 2020 Prepandemic File: Sample Design, Estimation, and Analytic Guidelines.”

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Explore Data

Prescription drug use in the past 30 days, by sex, race and Hispanic origin, and age group: United States, selected years 1988–1994 to 2017–March 2020

SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

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Definitions

Prescription drugs: Pharmaceutical agents, prescribed by a physician or other authorized medical professional, to prevent or treat medical conditions or disease. See Sources and Definitions, Drug.
Prescription drug use: Based on a question about whether respondents had taken a prescription drug (not including prescription dietary supplements) in the past 30 days. For participants younger than age 16 years, a parent or other proxy provided the information. See Sources and Definitions, Drug.

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References

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Prescription medicines.

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