Patterns of medicine use in a general population (0-80 years). The Influence of age, gender, diseases and place of residence on drug use in Norway.

Data from the Norwegian Health Survey, a national cross-sectional study, were collected through interviews with a randomly drawn sample of members of private households, including 5454 women and 5122 men (0-80+ years) in 1985. The response rate was 78.7%. They were interviewed at home and asked questions regarding health conditions and drug use in the preceding 14 days due to diseases, illnesses or injuries. Drug use decreased with age in childhood, but the overall age trend showed an increase with age. The gender differences were observed through the childbearing years (15-49 years) and above 70 years of age. Higher medicine use in women compared with men was due to a higher frequency of diagnoses of diseases/illnesses/injuries and a higher medicine use among those women with a diagnosis. Higher medicine use among women due to women's reproductory role can only be a part of the explanation. The gender difference in medicine use was also distinct after the menopause. Use of both prescribed and non-prescribed medicines was sporadic, and self-medication decreased in both sexes when obtaining medicines from the doctor. The regional variations in self-reported medicine use were mainly due to variation in the frequency of self-reported diseases/illnesses/injuries.