title: Medication use, gender, and socio-economic status in Lebanon: analysis of a national survey.
abstract: From data collected in Lebanon by the 1999 National Household Health Expenditures and Utilization Survey an analysis was made of reported medication use (n = 14,142). Seventy-two percent of the population aged 25-64 reported taking a medication in the month preceding the survey. Medications with high frequencies of reported use were analgesics, psychotropics, antibiotics and vitamins. Women were more than one and a half times more likely than men to report taking any medication (OR = 1.6), and significantly more likely to report taking eight of the 19 medication types analyzed. Analyses of the association of medication use with socio-economic variables show different effects for education and employment (inversely correlated with higher use), and higher socio-economic status (positively correlated with higher use). Multivariate analyses were carried out on two of the frequently used medications, antibiotic and prescription psychotropic use, to further explore the simultaneous effects of socio-economic variables The results of the analysis high-light a number of potential areas which may be targeted for intervention, in particular the higher use of antibiotics in rural areas, the greater use of psychotropics by women, and the possible obstacles to obtaining needed medications for those with lower incomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gender and Women's Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switerland. obermeyerc@who.int
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Makhlouf Obermeyer
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulein
authors.forename: Choghig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kasparian
authors.forename: Walid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ammar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations