One in six U.S. adults reported taking a psychiatric drug, such as an antidepressant or a sedative, in 2013, a new study found.
The new data comes from an analysis of the 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), which gathered information on the cost and use of health care in the United States.
An earlier government report, from 2011, found that just over one in 10 adults reported taking prescription drugs for "problems with emotions, nerves or mental health," the authors wrote in a research letter published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
But that report, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, didn't "provide information on which specific medications were more commonly used " or on how long they were used, said authors of the new study, Thomas Moore, a senior scientist at the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Dr. Donald Mattison, the chief medical officer at the Canadian consulting company Risk Sciences International.
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The new data comes from an analysis of the 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), which gathered information on the cost and use of health care in the United States.
An earlier government report, from 2011, found that just over one in 10 adults reported taking prescription drugs for "problems with emotions, nerves or mental health," the authors wrote in a research letter published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
But that report, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, didn't "provide information on which specific medications were more commonly used " or on how long they were used, said authors of the new study, Thomas Moore, a senior scientist at the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Dr. Donald Mattison, the chief medical officer at the Canadian consulting company Risk Sciences International.
Read Entire Article »
