General exposures to prescription medications by race/ethnicity in a population‐based sample: results from the Boston Area Community Health Survey

Abstract

Purpose Few recent U.S. studies have examined population‐based patterns in prescription drug use and even fewer have considered detailed patterns by race/ethnicity. In a representative community sample, our objectives were to determine the most commonly used prescription drug classes, and to describe their use by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Methods Cross‐sectional epidemiologic study of 5503 (1767 black, 1877 Hispanic, 1859 white) community‐dwelling participants aged 30–79 in the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey (2002–2005). Using medication information collected from an in‐home interview and medication inventory, the prevalence of use of a therapeutic class (95% confidence interval (95%CI)) in the past month was estimated by gender, age group, and race/ethnicity. Estimates were weighted inversely to the probability of sampling for generalizablity to Boston, MA. Results The therapeutic class containing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor/serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SSRI/SNRI) antidepressants was most commonly used (14.6%), followed by statins (13.9%), beta‐adrenergic blockers (10.6%), and angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (10.5%). Within all age groups and both genders, black participants were substantially less likely than white to use SSRI/SNRI antidepressants (e.g., black men: 6.0% [95%CI: 3.9–8.1%]; white men: 15.0% [95%CI: 10.2–19.4%]). Other race/ethnic differences were observed: for example, black women were significantly less likely than other groups to use benzodiazepines (e.g., black: 2.6% [95%CI: 1.2–3.9%]; Hispanic: 9.4% [95%CI: 5.8–13.0%]). Conclusions Race/ethnic differences in use of prescription therapeutic classes were observed in our community sample. Examining therapeutic classes rather than individual drugs resulted in a different distribution of common exposures compared to other surveys. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.