title: Trends in psychotropic medication use among U.S. adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine trends and prevalence of prescription psychotropic medication use among noninstitutionalized US adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prescription medication data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; 1988-1994; n = 20 050) and the 1999-2002 NHANES (n = 12 060), two nationally representative cross-sectional health examination surveys, were examined for persons aged > or =17 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The age-adjusted prevalence of psychotropic medication use increased from 6.1% in 1988-1994 to 11.1% in 1999-2002 (p < 0.001). This was due to more than a three-fold increase in antidepressant use (2.5%, 1988-1994 vs. 8.1%, 1999-2002 (p < 0.001)). Significant increases between time periods for antidepressant use were seen for all age, gender, and race-ethnic groups although increases were less pronounced for males than females and non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans than non-Hispanic whites. Prevalence of use remained relatively constant from 1988-1994 to 1999-2002 for anxiolytic/sedative/hypnotic (ASH) medications (3.5-3.8%), antipsychotics (0.8-1.0%), and antimanic agents (0.3-0.4%). The age-adjusted prevalence of multiple psychotropic medication use increased from 1.2% in 1988-1994 to 3.1% in 1999-2002 (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychotropic medication use among US adults increased since 1988-1994, specifically of antidepressants. Increases varied by gender and race-ethnicity indicating under-utilization for non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans compared to non-Hispanic whites for both males and females.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, USA. RPaulose@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Ryne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paulose-Ram
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Safran
authors.forename: Bruce S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Jonas
authors.forename: Qiuping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Orwig
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D017723:Drug Utilization Review / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs