Demographic characteristics by medication class
| CHARACTERISTIC | ANTIBIOTICS, n (%) (N=37,402)* | ANTIDEPRESSANTS, n (%) (N=14,257)* | ANTIHYPERTENSIVES, n (%) (N=18,609)* | BENZODIAZEPINES, n (%) (N=4448)* | BISPHOSPHONATES, n (%) (N=670)* | HYPOGLYCEMICS, n (%) (N=11,294)* | LIPID-LOWERING AGENTS, n (%) (N=4980)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | |||||||
| • Male | 11,623 (31.1) | 4596 (32.2) | 8463 (45.5) | 1414 (31.8) | 79 (11.8) | 4609 (40.8) | 2733 (54.9) |
| • Female | 25,779 (68.9) | 9661 (67.8) | 10,146 (54.5) | 3034 (68.2) | 591 (88.2) | 6685 (59.2) | 2247 (45.1) |
| Age group, y | |||||||
| • 18-44 | 14,980 (40.1) | 6815 (47.8) | 2981 (16.0) | 1681 (37.8) | 35 (5.2) | 3436 (30.4) | 394 (7.9) |
| • 45-64 | 13,421 (35.9) | 5179 (36.3) | 7912 (42.5) | 1774 (39.9) | 159 (23.7) | 4554 (40.3) | 2673 (53.7) |
| • 65-74 | 4634 (12.4) | 1200 (8.4) | 3964 (21.3) | 579 (13.0) | 203 (30.3) | 1745 (15.5) | 1304 (26.2) |
| • ≥75 | 4367 (11.7) | 1063 (7.5) | 3752 (20.2) | 414 (9.3) | 273 (40.7) | 1,559 (13.8) | 609 (12.2) |
| Income quintile | |||||||
| • Q1 (lowest) | 6911 (18.5) | 2710 (19.0) | 3309 (17.8) | 639 (14.4) | 135 (20.1) | 2045 (18.1) | 799 (16.0) |
| • Q2 | 7083 (18.9) | 2845 (20.0) | 3453 (18.5) | 812 (18.3) | 139 (20.7) | 2156 (19.1) | 969 (19.5) |
| • Q3 | 7274 (19.4) | 2835 (19.9) | 3777 (20.3) | 878 (19.7) | 130 (19.4) | 2116 (18.7) | 982 (19.7) |
| • Q4 | 8225 (22.0) | 2997 (21.0) | 4056 (21.8) | 1035 (23.3) | 122 (18.2) | 2549 (22.6) | 1136 (22.8) |
| • Q5 (highest) | 6604 (17.7) | 2451 (17.2) | 3425 (18.4) | 940 (21.1) | 123 (18.4) | 2062 (18.3) | 990 (19.9) |
| • Missing | 1305 (3.5) | 419 (2.9) | 589 (3.2) | 144 (3.2) | 21 (3.1) | 366 (3.2) | 104 (2.1) |
↵* N represents the no. of prescriptions in each grouping.