Nonprescription drug use among the elderly.

We investigated the extent of the use of nonprescription drugs among an elderly population and the health and social characteristics most related to their use (nonprescription drugs referring to "medicines that don't require a prescription for slight illnesses"). The study data derive from an interview survey of a random sample of adult members of a large health maintenance organization (HMO). While most of the members we interviewed used nonprescription drugs, only one in eight were categorized as using them "very often," the category of most frequent use. Nonprescription drug use was more often associated with reports of common, largely self-limiting conditions than with less common symptoms that could be indicative of serious underlying disease. Such drugs appeared to be used in conjunction with, rather than instead of, physician services. The most frequent users also more frequently asked pharmacists for advice, had unfilled prescriptions, and did not follow physician's instructions. Emotional and mental health were the most important factors accounting for nonprescription drug use among the elderly, particularly among the most frequent users. The profile of the "most frequent" elderly user is one of having emotional health problems; engaging in self-care, but also receiving professional physician services; and engaging in some questionable health behaviors, but not skeptical of medicine in general. Our findings suggest that more attention should be paid to the emotional needs of the elderly.