Table 10_3_1-2d

2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

The National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. It is organized around four dimensions of quality of care: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness.

Table 10_3_1.2d
Adults age 65 and over who received at least 1 of 33 potentially inappropriate prescription medications^a in the calendar year, by education,^b United States, 2005
Population group		Total		Less than high school		High school graduate		At least some college
Population group		Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		17.8	0.7	19.1	1.3	18.3	1.2	16.3	1.2
Age	65–69	18.5	1.3	16.7	2.5	22.4	2.6	16.4	2.3
	70–74	18.2	1.5	24.3	3.4	18.0	2.4	14.8	2.2
	75–79	19.8	1.9	21.4	3.0	22.2	3.0	15.5	2.9
	80 and over	15.0	1.2	15.4	1.8	11.6	1.9	18.3	2.3
Gender	Male	14.4	1.1	17.3	2.0	13.1	1.8	13.5	1.7
Gender	Female	20.3	1.0	20.2	1.8	21.3	1.6	19.1	1.7
Race	White, single race	17.4	0.8	18.4	1.5	18.0	1.3	16.1	1.4
	Black, single race	19.0	1.9	19.8	2.7	17.4	3.5	19.2	4.3
	Asian, single race	21.2	5.2	*	*	*	*	*	*
	NHOPI, single race	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
	AI/AN, single race	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Multiple races	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	18.0	0.8	20.0	1.5	18.4	1.3	16.4	1.2
	Non-Hispanic, White	17.6	0.8	19.4	1.7	18.0	1.4	16.2	1.4
	Non-Hispanic, Black	19.2	1.9	19.9	2.7	17.8	3.5	19.4	4.4
	Hispanic	14.0	1.7	13.9	2.4	*	*	*	*
Family income^c	Negative/poor	19.7	2.0	22.8	2.8	16.2	3.1	*	*
	Near poor/low	19.6	1.4	19.2	2.1	20.8	2.6	18.4	3.0
	Middle	16.9	1.4	17.9	2.5	18.0	2.0	14.5	2.1
	High	16.5	1.2	15.9	3.1	17.2	2.4	16.3	1.7
Health insurance	Medicare only	16.9	1.4	17.1	2.3	16.1	2.1	17.7	2.4
	Medicare and private	17.5	0.9	17.7	2.0	19.3	1.7	15.8	1.4
	Medicare and other public	21.8	2.0	24.2	2.6	20.7	4.4	*	*
Residence location^d	Metropolitan	17.2	0.8	18.6	1.5	17.7	1.4	15.8	1.4
	Large central metro	19.1	1.4	19.1	2.8	19.0	2.8	19.3	2.4
	Large fringe metro	14.1	1.6	16.8	3.4	16.5	2.5	10.1	2.4
	Medium metro	18.7	1.7	20.2	2.6	19.3	2.8	17.1	2.3
	Small metro	15.1	2.7	17.6	3.5	13.6	3.8	*	*
	Nonmetropolitan	19.8	1.8	20.5	2.5	20.5	2.7	18.4	2.7
	Micropolitan	18.1	2.2	19.0	2.7	16.9	3.6	18.7	3.2
	Noncore	23.1	2.8	22.6	4.5	*	*	*	*
Language spoken most often at home	English	18.1	0.8	20.0	1.4	18.7	1.3	16.4	1.3
Language spoken most often at home	Other	17.0	2.6	16.2	3.3	*	*	*	*
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	15.9	0.8	15.8	1.5	17.3	1.5	14.8	1.3
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	23.5	1.6	25.0	2.5	21.9	2.6	23.3	3.0
Activity limitations^d	Basic activities	24.0	1.3	25.4	2.1	23.5	2.3	22.9	2.4
	Complex activities	27.1	2.2	29.3	3.6	27.0	3.8	24.4	4.0
	Neither basic nor complex activities	14.6	0.9	14.0	1.7	15.9	1.6	13.8	1.4

^a Prescription medications received includes all prescribed medications initially purchased or otherwise obtained during calendar year, as well as any refills.

^b Less than high school refers to fewer than 12 years of education; high school graduate, 12 years of education; and at least some college, more than 12 years of education.

^c Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, over the poverty line to just below 200 percent of the poverty line; middle, 200 percent to just below 400 percent of the poverty line; and high, 400 percent of the poverty line and over.

^d For more information, see the MEPS entry in Appendix A.

* - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.

Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; NHOPI: Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; SE: standard error.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Current as of September 2009

Internet Citation: Table 10_3_1-2d: 2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. September 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr08/10_patientsafety/T10_3_1-2d.html