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Drug Usage in a Western Australian Rural Community
Author(s) -
Madsen B. W.,
Murphy B. P.,
Wearne K. L.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1979.tb04137.x
Subject(s) - medicine , medical prescription , drug , obesity , multivariate analysis , population , demography , pharmacology , environmental health , sociology
Summary: Drug usage in two agricultural shires, Kondinin and Kulin, was surveyed by questionnaire. Both prescription and over the counter (OTC) drugs were recorded together with age, sex, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1 ), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and body weight, and 1284 people, or 55·8% of the eligible population over six years of age, participated. Approximately 35%, 53% and 12% of people said they were taking no drugs, one to two drugs and three or more drugs respectively, a result very similar to that found in an earlier urban study (Traralgon). The interaction of all five factors on drug consumption was studied jointly by multivariate analysis; FEV 1 , SBP and weight were normalised using standard tables. Prescription drug usage was directly related to obesity, respiratory impairment and sex (P < 0 · 01) but not to age or SBP. People taking either OTC drugs or none at all differed only in sex, with females taking more than males (P< 0·01). There were no differences in the factors studied between prescription only and prescription plus OTC drug users.