Statistics on Medication

• Nearly 2.7 billion retail prescriptions were dispensed in 1999, amounting to $110 billion in sales.
• In 1997, 44 percent of the prescriptions dispensed were refills.
• Almost two-thirds of Americans currently use medicines: 49 percent use prescription drugs and 30 percent use nonprescription medications.
• Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) may be the fourth-to-sixth leading cause of death. Serious ADRs occur in 6.7 percent of hospitalized patients.
• 32 million Americans are taking three or more medications daily.
• Almost 29 percent of Americans stop taking their medicine before it runs out.
• 22 percent of Americans take less of the medication than is prescribed on the label.
• 12 percent of Americans don't fill their prescription at all.
• 12 percent of Americans don't take medication at all after they buy the prescription.
• The No.1 problem in treating illness today is patients' failure to take prescription medications correctly, regardless of patient age.
• 10 percent of all hospital admissions are the result of patients failing to take prescription medications correctly.
• 23 percent of all nursing home admissions are due to patients failing to take prescription medications accurately.
• At any given time, regardless of age group, up to 59 percent of those on five or more medications are taking them improperly.
• The average length of stay in hospitals due to medication noncompliance is 4.2 days.
• More than half of all Americans with chronic diseases don't follow their physician's medication and lifestyle guidance.
• Two-thirds of all Americans fail to take any or all of their prescription medicines.

Statistics on Lifestyle Compliance

• From 1997–2001, an estimated 438,000 Americans died each year of smoking-related illnesses, and 34.7 percent of these deaths were CVD-related. 
• Americans eat about 34 percent of their calories as fat, increasing their risk of developing high cholesterol.
• About 145 million American adults age 20 and older are considered overweight or obese, and of these more than 74.1 million are considered obese.
• More than half of all Americans with chronic diseases don't follow their physician's medication and lifestyle guidance.
• About 50 percent of men and 68 percent of women recognize regular medical checkups as important to staying well.
• 45.1 percent of American adults age 20 and older have cholesterol levels that are too high (200 mg/dL and over).
• Only about 31 percent of American adults report regular leisure-time physical activity.

Statistics on Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the No. 1 killer in America. In 2005, 865,000 Americans died of CVD, accounting for about 35 percent of all deaths.
• Lack of physical activity is a risk factor for heart disease.
• Scientists haven't found a direct link between regular exercise and stroke. But they do know that exercise reduces the risk of other health problems, such as heart disease, which can contribute to stroke. By helping to prevent heart attack, exercise may reduce the risk of some kinds of embolic stroke.
• The relative risk of coronary heart disease associated with physical inactivity ranges from 1.5 to 2.4, an increase in risk comparable with that observed for high cholesterol, high blood pressure or cigarette smoking.
• Surveys show that 30.8 percent of Americans age 18 or older engage in regular leisure-time physical activity. 
• In 2007, 57.7 percent of male high school students and 49.4 percent of female high school students attended PE classes but only 33.2 percent of males and 27.3 percent of females attended classes daily. 

Statistics on High Blood Pressure

• High blood pressure (hypertension) was the underlying cause of death for 57,356 Americans in 2005 and a primary or contributing cause of about 319,000 deaths.
• As many as 73.6 million Americans age 20 and older have high blood pressure. (Based on NHANES 2005–06 data.)
• One in three adults has high blood pressure.
• Of all people with high blood pressure age 20 and older, 78.7 percent were aware of their condition, 69.1 percent were under current treatment, 45.4 percent had it under control, and 54.6 percent did not have it controlled.
• The cause of 90 percent to 95 percent of the cases of high blood pressure isn't known; however, this disease is easily detected and usually controllable.
• People with lower education and income levels also tend to have higher levels of blood pressure.
• In 2005 the death rates per 100,000 population from high blood pressure were 15.8 for white males, 52.1 for black males, 15.1 for white females and 40.3 for black females.

Statistics on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke in Women

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) ranks first among all disease categories in hospital discharges for women.
• Nearly 38 percent of all female deaths in America occur from CVD, particularly coronary heart disease and stroke.
• CVD is a particularly important problem among minority women. The death rate due to CVD is substantially higher in black women than in white women.
• In 2005, CVD claimed the lives of 454,613 females while cancer (all forms combined) killed 268,890 females.
• 23 percent of women (age 40 and older), compared with 18 percent of men, will die within one year after a first heart attack.
• Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability; an estimated 15 percent to 30 percent of stroke survivors are permanently disabled.

For more statistical information, see the Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update. 

Source for medication statistics: The National Council on Patient Information and Education*
*This link is provided for convenience only, and is not an endorsement or assurance of the entity or any product or service.



This content is reviewed regularly. Last updated 03/23/09.