Overall prescription drug use and polypharmacy increased significantly in a study of 37,959 US adults aged ≥20 years, while the prevalence of prescription drug use increased in the majority of, but not all, drug classes. These trends remained statistically significant with age adjustment. Researchers found:

• 51% of participants reported use of any prescription drugs in 1999-2000 and an estimated 59% reported use in 2011-2012.

• Prevalence of polypharmacy (use of > 5 medications) increased from an estimated 8.2% in 1999-2000 to 15% in 2011-2013.

• Prevalence of use increased in 11 of 18 drug classes, including antihperlipidemic agents, antidepressants, prescription proton-pump inhibitors, and muscle relaxants.

Citation: Kantor ED, Rehm CD, Haas JS, Chan AT, Giovannucci EL. Trends in prescription drug use among adults in the United States from 1999-2012. JAMA. 2015;314(17):1818-1831. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.13766.

Commentary: It is startling to see that the vast majority of adults in the US are on at least one prescription medication. The most frequently used medication classes in order of use are: antihypertensive, antihyperlipidemic, antidepressant, analgesic, contraceptive and non-contraceptive hormone, antidiabetic, PPI, thyroid, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, and bronchodilator medications. As for individual drugs, 8 of the 10 most commonly prescribed drugs are used to treat components of the metabolic syndrome including hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes which may in turn, reflect the consequences of the increased rate of obesity in the population. It is also notable that approximately 1 in 7 Americans take five or more medications on a regular basis. In aggregate, we use a lot of medications for a lot of people, and a lot of people are on a lot of medications. —Neil Skolnik, MD