Drug Prescribing and Use in an American Community

The overall patterns of drug prescribing and use in an entire community were studied for a year. A substantial proportion of the drugs prescribed were psychotropic agents that either sedate or stimulate. These psychotropic drugs accounted for 17% of all prescriptions, with almost 13% of all patients receiving one of these agents through a doctor's prescription. The amphetamines were the eighth most frequently dispensed class of drugs, with almost 3% of all patients who received a prescription being given an amphetamine. The general impression that there is a high rate of psychotropic drug use in the United States was substantiated in this community study.