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Linda Simoni-Wastila, PhD and Gail Strickler, MS

Linda Simoni-Wastila is with the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, Baltimore. Gail Strickler is with the Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Linda Simoni-Wastila, PhD, University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, 515 W Lombard St, Rm 275, Baltimore, MD 21201 (e-mail: lsimoniw{at}rx.umaryland.edu).

We estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for the problem use of prescription drugs, overall and by therapeutic class. Applying logistic regression analysis to data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse,¹ we found that nearly 1.3 million Americans aged 12 years and older experience problem use of prescription drugs signifying physiological dependence or heavy daily use. Those at greatest risk include older adults, females, those in poor/fair health, and daily alcohol drinkers.