Socioeconomic correlates of drug use on prescription data

Introduction: In the public health system we study medical treatment which is ideally provided according to need and independently of economic means. We report use of prescription drugs according to socioeconomic classifica- tions in North Jutland County in Denmark in 1999. Method: We conducted a register-based cross-sectional study of 385,879 per- sons aged 18 years or older. Data from the computerized accounting system from the pharmacies were linked with records of socioeconomic status (SES) in the Prevention Registry at Statistics Denmark. We identified all prescrip- tions redeemed in North Jutland County from 1 January through 31 Decem- ber 1999 and classified the socioeconomic status for each individual based on the annual registration of income/social benefits, employer, occupation and education. We computed the proportion of persons redeeming at least one prescription and computed weighted averages of prescription propor- tions for each SES. Results: The highest prevalence of medication use was by persons in early re- tirement, old age pensioners, people on disability pension and others outside the workforce. We found only minor differences among different economi- cally active groups with slightly more male top managers using cardiovascu- lar drugs. People in the upper half of the socioeconomic scale were some- what less likely to redeem prescriptions for treating muscle, joints and bone, and central nervous system. Conclusion: Social or economic barriers in buying medicine are generally small in Denmark and do probably not provide a likely explanation for the social differences in morbidity and mortality.