PRESCRIBED MEDICINES

In the general population, the average number of prescribed medications taken by men was 1.0 and by women it was 1.3. The level of prescribed medicine use was lower for Chinese men (ratio 0.51) and women (ratio 0.59). South Asian men were relatively high users of medication (ratios 1.36 Indian, 1.26 Pakistani, 2.04 Bangladeshi), as were Bangladeshi (ratio 1.37) and Pakistani (ratio 1.42) women. Levels of prescribed medication use for Black Caribbean and Irish adults were similar to those for the general population.

Source: The Health Survey of England 1999