Characteristics of Adults Aged 18-64 Who Did Not Take Medication as Prescribed to Reduce Costs: United States, 2021

Details

• Personal Author:
  Mykyta, Laryssa ; Cohen, Robin A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Center for Health Statistics (U.S.)
• Description:
  About 60% of adults aged 18 and over reported taking at least one prescription medication in 2021, with 36% reporting taking three or more (1). Out-of- pocket costs on retail drugs rose 4.8% to $63 billion in 2021 (2). High costs may limit individuals' access to medications and lead to people not taking medication as prescribed (3,4); this may result in more serious illness and require additional treatment (5). This report examines the characteristics of adults aged 18-64 who took prescription medication in the past 12 months and did not take medication as prescribed due to cost. Cost-saving measures included skipping doses, taking less medication than prescribed, or delaying filling a prescription. ; Key findings: Data from the National Health Interview Survey ; • In 2021, 8.2% of adults aged 18-64 who took prescription medication in the past 12 months reported not taking medication as prescribed due to cost. Women (9.1%) were more likely than men (7.0%) to not take medication as prescribed. ; • Adults with disabilities (20.0%) were more likely than adults without disabilities (7.1%) to not take medication as prescribed to reduce costs. ; • Uninsured adults were more likely than adults with other health coverage, Medicaid, or private health insurance to not take medication as prescribed due to cost. ; • Adults without prescription drug coverage were more likely to not take medication as prescribed to reduce costs compared with adults with public or private prescription drug coverage. ; Suggested citation Mykyta L, Cohen RA. Characteristics of adults aged 18-64 who did not take medication as prescribed to reduce costs: United States, 2021. NCHS Data Brief, no 470. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2023. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:127680. ; CS339861
• Subjects:
  • Adult
  • Drug Costs
  • Humans
  • Medication Adherence
  • Middle Aged
  • Prescription Drugs
  • Young Adult
• Source:
  National Health Interview Survey
• Series:
  NCHS Data Briefs
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report ; Statistics
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• CIO:
  National Center for Health Statistics
• Topic:
  Health Statistics
• Pages in Document:
  8 pdf pages
• Issue:
  470
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/127680/cdc_127680_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 501.53 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Center for Health Statistics
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d36d402c29daa862a3df708164a5a01e18bddff73f4d37d1912e0515f3956bdfe90892fcaed01ee8a9b17d3a36212cfb5640f8358e10f8b58572237e0741e062