The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is pleased to announce the release of a new report that highlights a unique data resource for studying medication therapy in ambulatory care. The report, entitled “Medication therapy in ambulatory medical care settings: United States 2003-2004, presents estimates of medications prescribed, provided, or continued at visits to physician offices and outpatient and emergency departments in 2003-2004. The report provides detailed drug characteristics separately for primary care offices, surgical specialty offices, medical specialty offices, outpatient departments, and emergency departments. It can be accessed on the NCHS website at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_13/sr13_163.pdf.
Among the report findings:
• Medications were mentioned at approximately two-thirds of encounters.
• A total of 1.9 billion medications, including prescriptions, injections, and over-the-counter preparations, were reported for these visits.
• Pain relievers, cardiovascular-renal agents, respiratory tract drugs, central nervous system drugs, hormonal agents, and antimicrobials were reported most frequently.
• Anti-depressant prescribing rates per 1,000 persons were higher for females than males and for whites than blacks.
The detailed drug data upon which this report is based are available for public use as part of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). NAMCS and NHAMCS collect data on ambulatory medical care providers, their patients, and the care delivered during visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient departments, and emergency departments. Medication therapy has been included on the NAMCS and NHAMCS data collection forms since 1980. The 2003 and 2004 data collection forms permitted up to eight drugs to be recorded by name and therapeutic class for each visit. To access the micro-data files, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/ahcd/ahcd1.htm.
NAMCS and NHAMCS are part of a larger group of surveys known collectively as the National Health Care Surveys. For information on long term care, inpatient care, and ambulatory surgery components of the National Health Care Surveys, please visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhcs.htm.
