Factors associated with women's medication use

Abstract

Health Issue: Research has consistently shown that while women generally live longer than men, they report more illness and use of health care services (including medication). In the literature, the reasons for women's elevated medication use are not clear. This paper investigates the associations between over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription (Rx) medication use and selected social and demographic variables in men and women.Key findings: While a larger proportion of women than men used medication throughout the study, the proportion of people using medication did not increase. The use of OTC and Rx medication increased by number of physician visits for women and men.Medication use increased with age, chronic disease and number of physician visits, and decreased with the perception of good to excellent health. The relationship with other factors varied for women and men depending on their education level, income and social roles. For women, the social roles of being married or previously married, being employed or being a parent did not increase their likelihood of medication use. Reported income adequacy is not associated with the chances of mediation use among highly educated women, but for women with low levels, medication use increases as income adequacy decreases. Data Gaps and Recommendations:More complete data are needed about social roles and their relation to mediation use. Data that would allow an assessment of the appropriateness of OTC and Rx drug use or the reasons for such use need to be collected. More research is needed to better understand the distribution and determinants of specific medication use.

Cognitive Impairment and Medication Complexity in Community-Living Older Adults: The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study

“…Female participants had more complex prescription regimens, perhaps due to greater utilization of health services. 21 Access to health care variables, such as more outpatient visits, most likely increased complexity by increasing the number of prescribed medications. Finally, the prescription regimens for participants in Pittsburgh were associated with lower complexity, perhaps reflecting better health status and a different demographic.…”

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“…In general, a larger proportion of Canadian women than men take medication, although why some women are more likely to take medications than other women is poorly understood. 2 Social roles, particularly the quality of partner relationships, have been suggested as one factor that might affect medication use. 2 Since the early studies of violence against women, researchers have raised concerns regarding prescribing patterns for women with signs of abuse.…”

“…2 Social roles, particularly the quality of partner relationships, have been suggested as one factor that might affect medication use. 2 Since the early studies of violence against women, researchers have raised concerns regarding prescribing patterns for women with signs of abuse. [3][4][5] We examined patterns of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medication use among 309 Canadian women who had left their abusive partners, in the context of their self-reports of health problems, medical diagnoses, and abuse histories.…”

Patient behavior: an extensive review

“…The self-reported use OTC medications in the rural older population also shows that women take more OTC medications than me. 20 Sex also makes a difference in psychotropic medication use. Marked gender differences have been reported; women are affected twice as often as men.…”