| Selected characteristic | Took prescription medication in the past 12 months |
|---|---|
| Percent (95% confidence interval) | |
| Total | 88.6 (88.1–89.2) |
| Sex | |
| Men | 88.4 (87.5–89.1) |
| Women | 88.8 (88.1–89.6) |
| Age group (years) | |
| 65–74 | 186.9 (86.2–87.7) |
| 75–84 | 91.3 (90.4–92.2) |
| 85 and older | 91.2 (89.5–92.7) |
| Race and Hispanic origin2 | |
| Asian, non-Hispanic | 383.8 (79.9–87.3) |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 3,487.4 (85.5–89.1) |
| White, non-Hispanic | 489.7 (89.1–90.3) |
| Other and multiple races, non-Hispanic | 386.8 (81.1–91.3) |
| Hispanic | 83.9 (81.3–86.2) |
| Family income as a percentage offederal poverty level5 | |
| Less than 100% | 685.1 (82.5–87.4) |
| 100% to less than 200% | 88.6 (87.1–90.0) |
| 200% to less than or equal to 400% | 88.7 (87.7–89.8) |
| Greater than 400% | 89.3 (88.4–90.1) |
| Food insecurity7 | |
| Insecure | 892.6 (90.2–94.6) |
| Secure | 89.2 (88.7–89.8) |
| Urbanization level9 | |
| Large central metropolitan | 1086.8 (85.6–87.9) |
| Large fringe metropolitan | 89.2 (88.1–90.2) |
| Medium and small metropolitan | 88.9 (88.0–89.8) |
| Nonmetropolitan | 90.2 (88.8–91.6) |
| Education | |
| Less than high school | 1187.0 (85.1–88.8) |
| High school graduate | 88.3 (87.2–89.4) |
| Some college | 90.5 (89.5–91.4) |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher | 88.6 (87.6–89.5) |
| Marital status | |
| Married | 12,1390.1 (89.3–90.8) |
| Widowed | 12–1490.6 (89.5–91.6) |
| Divorced or separated | 1387.4 (86.0–88.7) |
| Never married | 83.5 (80.9–85.8) |
| Cohabiting | 86.4 (82.0–90.0) |
| Health insurance coverage15 | |
| Private | 1690.3 (89.4–91.1) |
| Dual-eligible | 1689.8 (87.6–91.8) |
| Medicare Advantage | 1689.1 (88.2–89.9) |
| Medicare only | 83.0 (81.0–84.8) |
| Other coverage | 1689.5 (87.4–91.3) |
| Prescription drug coverage17 | |
| Private | 1890.0 (89.4–90.6) |
| Public | 1889.6 (88.0–91.0) |
| None | 82.5 (80.8–84.1) |
| Health status | |
| Excellent, very good, or good | 1986.9 (86.3–87.6) |
| Fair or poor | 94.3 (93.3–95.2) |
| Disability status20 | |
| With disabilities | 2194.4 (93.4–95.3) |
| Without disabilities | 87.3 (86.7–87.9) |
| Number of chronic conditions22 | |
| Zero | 2360.6 (58.4–62.8) |
| One | 86.4 (85.2–87.5) |
| Two or more | 96.2 (95.7–96.6) |
Significant quadratic trend with age (p < 0.05).
Adults categorized as Hispanic may be of any race or combination of races. Adults categorized as Asian non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, and White non-Hispanic indicated one race only. Non-Hispanic adults of multiple or other races are combined in the other and multiple races non-Hispanic category.
Statistically different from White non-Hispanic older adults (p < 0.05).
Statistically different from Hispanic older adults (p < 0.05).
Calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year, which consider family size and age.
Significant linear increase with increasing family income (p < 0.05).
Family food insecurity was determined based on a composite recode of responses to 10 questions developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to measure if adults had problems with eating patterns or access, quality, variety, and quantity of food in the past 30 days. In the National Health Interview Survey, food insecurity was calculated at the family level, and families that reported six or more problems were considered food insecure.
Statistically different from older adults who were food secure (p < 0.05).
Measured using metropolitan statistical area (MSA) status. The Office of Management and Budget defines MSAs according to published standards that are applied to U.S. Census Bureau data. Generally, an MSA consists of a county or group of counties containing at least one urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more (see reference 42 in this report). See Technical Notes in this report for more detail. Large central MSAs have a population of 1 million or more (similar to inner cities). Large fringe MSAs have a population of 1 million or more (similar to suburbs). Medium and small MSAs have a population of less than 1 million.
Significant linear increase with decreasing urbanization level (p < 0.05).
Significant quadratic trend with education level (p < 0.05).
Significantly different from divorced older adults (p < 0.05).
Significantly different from never married older adults (p < 0.05).
Significantly different from cohabiting older adults (p < 0.05).
A health insurance hierarchy of six mutually exclusive categories was developed. This hierarchy eliminates duplicate responses for both private health insurance and Medicare Advantage giving preference to those with Medicare Advantage. Older adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned the first appropriate category in the following hierarchy: private, dual-eligible (Medicare and Medicaid), Medicare Advantage, Medicare only, and other coverage. Uninsured older adults are shown in the total, but are not shown separately due to small number of older adults who are uninsured.
Statistically different from older adults with Medicare only coverage (p < 0.05).
Prescription drug coverage determined at the time of interview. Older adults were considered to have private prescription drug coverage if they obtained coverage through either a single service plan, a private health insurance plan, or Medicare Part D. Adults were considered to have public prescription drug coverage if they were covered by Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), other public coverage, or military coverage.
Significantly different from older adults with no prescription drug coverage (p < 0.05).
Significantly different from older adults in fair or poor health (p < 0.05).
Defined by the reported level of difficulty (no difficulty, some difficulty, or a lot of difficulty) in six functioning domains: seeing (even wearing glasses), hearing (even wearing hearing aids), mobility (walking or climbing stairs), communication (understanding or being understood by others), cognition (remembering or concentrating), and self-care (such as washing all over or dressing). Sample adults who responded “a lot of difficulty” or “cannot do at all” to at least one question were considered to have disabilities.
Significantly different from older adults without disability (p < 0.05).
Chronic conditions include hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis; currently had asthma; or had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (that is, ever had emphysema, ever had COPD, or had chronic bronchitis in the past 12 months).
Significant linear increase with increasing number of chronic conditions (p < 0.05).
NOTE: Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population.
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, 2021–2022.
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