[The effect of age factors on drug utilization in an urban population]

The present paper analyzes the consumption of drugs in the out-patient health care for city population in relation to age and sex. An automated information system of processing of medical prescriptions by means of computer technique was used. Drug consumption is expressed in the form of costs. The drug consumption for 1984 in the whole population of a city with more than 400 thousand inhabitants was evaluated. Population was divided into 17 age groups (5 years in each) always separately within sex. The results show that drug consumption calculated per 1 person up to the age of 30 is affected by age only negligibly. In the population over 30, drug consumption is markedly increased with age up to the highest age categories. Mathematical analysis has demonstrated that the relation of drug consumption to age expressed per 1 person is best portrayed by a second-degree parabola.