Introduction & Objective: Mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, can adversely affect one’s quality of life. Prescription medication and other therapeutic measures are often needed for treatment. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence and trends of psychotherapeutic medication use, and associated clinical and sociodemographic factors, among US adults with and without diabetes.
Methods: Data from 57,083 non-pregnant adults (≥20 years) in the 1999-March 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Diabetes status was based on self-reported diagnosis or HbA1c level ≥6.5%. Prescriptions for anti-depressants, stimulants, anti-psychotics, anti-stimulants, anti-anxiety (anxiolytics, sedatives, and hypnotics), and psychotherapeutic combinations taken in the past 30 days were assessed with a medication container inventory and classified using the Lexicon Plus classification system. Predictive margin percentages and ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated from multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, sex, BMI, and time to assess the association of diabetes status and medication use.
Results: During 1999-March 2020, the covariate adjusted percentages of US adults reporting use of psychotherapeutic medications was 20.1% (95% CI: 18.8-21.5) for those with diabetes and 15.5% (95% CI: 14.9-16.2) for those without diabetes. The highest ratio of psychotherapeutic medication use among those with diabetes compared to those without was observed for stimulants (2.3, 95% CI: 1.8-2.9), followed by anti-depressants (1.6, 95% CI: 1.5-1.7), anti-psychotics (1.6, 95% CI: 1.3-1.9), and lastly anti-anxiety (1.3, 95% CI: 1.2-1.5).
Conclusion: Our study findings support an association of diabetes and mental health prescription drug usage. Adults with diabetes have higher observed prevalence of taking psychotherapeutic medications.
R.E. Rutkowski: None. K.M. Bullard: None. D.B. Rolka: None.
