Study of drug consumption in a working environment in France.

1. The present study was conducted to investigate drug consumption in a working environment by means of an anonymous questionnaire given to 2221 subjects and answered in the presence of the work physician. 2. Among the 2221 subjects, 922 had taken at least 1 drug during the week just preceding the medical visit to the company. 3. Women used significantly more hypnotics, sedatives, analgesics, and endocrinologic drugs and homeopathic agents than men, who tended to take more respiratory drugs. 4. Consumption of drugs significantly increased with age. 5. The mean value of estimated difficulty of work was higher in subjects taking drugs in general, as well as hypnotics, sedatives, analgesics, anti-inflammatory agents and gastrointestinal drugs. There was a significant relationship between difficulty of work and total number of medicines taken. 6. Manual workers in general, took no more drugs than nonmanual workers, except for analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antibiotics. Nonmanual workers used homeopathy more than manual workers. 7. The presence of extraprofessional problems was associated with an increase in drug consumption.