National estimates and predictors of prescription medication sample use in the United States, 1999-2005.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of free medication sample use in the United States and analyze the effects of socioeconomic status and drug safety actions.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
United States from 1999 to 2005.


METHODS
Survey respondents representative of the civilian noninstitutionalized population.


METHODS
Analysis of data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative longitudinal household survey.


METHODS
Identification of a medication as being provided as a sample at least once during a study year.


RESULTS
An annual average of 5.1% (range 4.4% in 2005 to 5.8% in 2002) of all prescription medications were provided as a sample at least once during a year, with 18.3% of all Americans who received at least one prescription drug receiving at least one drug as a sample. On multivariate analysis, sample use was greater among young (18-30 years) non-Hispanic whites and the uninsured but had minimal independent association with income. The proportion of sample use among users of hormone replacement therapy and cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors remained relatively constant even as total use of these drugs declined after Food and Drug Administration regulatory action.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of medication samples is common in the U.S. population. After adjusting for health insurance, sample use was not associated with income and samples were less frequently provided to racial/ethnic minorities and to the elderly. The putative economic benefits of free samples do not appear to go to patients with the greatest financial need. Drug regulatory actions did not have a disproportionate effect on provision of drugs as samples.
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of California at San Francisco, CA 94143-0622, USA. macdougallc@pharmacy.ucsf.edu
Conan
C
Macdougall
Tamar
T
Udkow
B Joseph
BJ
Guglielmo
Eric
E
Vittinghoff
Jeffrey
J
Martin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000191:economics; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics*; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States
D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D055553:Prescription Drugs