Prescription medication use and trends for U.S. Navy submariners from 2007 to 2018

This is the first study to examine population medication prescription rates among U.S. submariners by common therapeutic classifications.

Individual-level pharmacy records during the years 2007 to 2018 were extracted from the Military Health System's Pharmacy Data Transaction Service (PDTS) file. Demographic and military factors captured from Navy personnel files were linked to PDTS records. Logistic regression models were used to identify characteristics and trends associated with prevalence. Published total rates for other active-duty components were compared to submariner rates.

There were data for 50,720 submariners, among whom 576,782 prescriptions were filled. Prevalence rates decreased significantly from 2007-2018 among most drug classes. Central nervous system agents accounted for 31% of the total prescriptions, followed by 12% for eye, ear, nose, and throat preparations, and 10% for anti-infective agents. Higher prescription rates were associated with being enlisted, younger, a woman, lower-ranked, or Hispanic. The mean yearly prescription rate was 2.7 per submariner, less than half of the overall rate of all military components.

The survival benefit of HBO2 therapy observed in our unadjusted analysis suggests that there may be therapeutic benefits of HBO2 in treating COVID-19 hypoxia as an adjunct to standard care.