Table 12_4_6-1

2009 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 12_4_6.1
Adults age 65 and over who received potentially inappropriate prescription medications^a in the calendar year, United States, 2002 and 2006
		2006				2002
		Received 1 of 33 inappropriate drugs		Received 1 of 11 drugs that should be avoided		Received 1 of 33 inappropriate drugs		Received 1 of 11 drugs that should be avoided
Population group		Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		15.7	0.7	2.4	0.3	18.4	0.7	3.1	0.3
Age	65–69	15.3	1.3	3.3	0.7	15.6	1.2	2.6	0.5
	70–74	15.2	1.3	2.3	0.6	19.3	1.4	3.2	0.6
	75–79	15.0	1.5	DSU	DSU	18.6	1.4	4.1	0.9
	80–84	17.8	1.9	DSU	DSU	21.4	2.2	DSU	DSU
	85 and over	16.1	2.0	DSU	DSU	18.6	2.1	DSU	DSU
Gender	Male	12.3	1.0	2.0	0.4	14.2	0.9	2.0	0.4
Gender	Female	18.3	0.9	2.6	0.4	21.4	1.0	3.9	0.5
Race	White, single race	15.7	0.7	2.5	0.3	18.7	0.7	3.1	0.4
	Black, single race	17.9	1.7	2.1	0.6	18.1	2.0	DSU	DSU
	Asian, single race	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	NHOPI, single race	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	AI/AN, single race	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	Multiple races	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	15.9	0.7	2.3	0.3	18.4	0.7	3.1	0.3
	Non-Hispanic, White	15.9	0.8	2.4	0.3	18.8	0.8	3.1	0.4
	Non-Hispanic, Black	18.0	1.7	2.1	0.6	18.3	2.0	DSU	DSU
	Hispanic	13.5	2.3	DSU	DSU	17.0	2.3	DSU	DSU
Family income^b	Negative/poor	16.9	1.6	DSU	DSU	21.7	1.9	3.6	0.8
	Near poor/low	16.0	1.2	2.5	0.5	21.3	1.5	4.4	0.8
	Middle	16.2	1.2	2.8	0.6	17.9	1.2	2.8	0.5
	High	14.8	1.4	2.3	0.5	15.3	1.2	2.0	0.4
Education^c	Less than high school	17.5	1.2	2.5	0.5	20.4	1.3	3.8	0.6
	High school graduate	15.5	1.1	2.1	0.5	18.7	1.2	3.0	0.6
	At least some college	14.8	1.1	2.5	0.5	16.0	1.1	2.4	0.5
Health insurance	Medicare only	16.4	1.3	1.9	0.5	16.9	1.3	2.5	0.6
	Medicare and private	15.4	0.9	2.5	0.4	17.9	0.8	3.0	0.4
	Medicare and other public	17.2	1.8	2.9	0.8	26.1	2.1	5.2	1.0
Residence location^d	Metropolitan	14.9	0.8	2.2	0.3	17.9	0.8	3.0	0.4
	Large central metro	13.4	1.3	1.6	0.4	16.6	1.4	3.2	0.6
	Large fringe metro	15.3	1.5	3.0	0.6	18.8	1.6	2.9	0.8
	Medium metro	16.9	1.3	2.7	0.8	18.2	1.6	2.7	0.6
	Small metro	12.8	2.8	DSU	DSU	18.9	2.6	DSU	DSU
	Nonmetropolitan	18.9	1.7	3.1	0.7	20.1	1.4	3.3	0.6
	Micropolitan	17.9	1.9	3.0	0.7	21.9	1.8	3.8	0.7
	Noncore	20.7	2.7	DSU	DSU	16.6	1.8	2.3	0.6
Language spoken most often at home	English	16.2	0.7	2.5	0.3	19.0	0.7	3.1	0.3
Language spoken most often at home	Other	9.9	1.6	DSU	DSU	16.0	1.9	DSU	DSU
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	13.5	0.7	1.9	0.3	15.9	0.8	2.6	0.4
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	22.9	1.6	3.7	0.8	25.7	1.5	4.2	0.6
Activity limitations^d	Basic activities	22.1	1.3	3.3	0.6	28.1	1.2	4.4	0.6
	Complex activities	25.1	2.3	DSU	DSU	32.1	2.1	5.4	1.1
	Neither basic nor complex activities	11.6	0.8	1.9	0.3	13.0	0.7	2.4	0.4

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

^b Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, 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.

^c 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.

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

DSU - 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 March 2010

Internet Citation: Table 12_4_6-1: 2009 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. March 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr09/12_patientsafety/T12_4_6-1.html