Department of Economics, Lund University, PO Box 7082, 220 07 Lund, Sweden.
Soc Sci Med. 2013 Jan;77:106-17. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.11.013. Epub 2012 Nov 22.
This study analyzes the socioeconomic gradient in drug utilization. We use The Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, merged with the Survey of Living Conditions (the ULF), and the study sample consists of 8138 individuals. We find a positive education gradient (but no income gradient) in drug utilization, after controlling for health indicators. Whereas high-educated men use a larger number of drugs, high-educated women use both a larger number of drugs and more expensive drugs. For males, but not as clearly for females, we find that the education gradient is weaker for more health-related drugs but stronger for more expensive drugs. We conclude that the main reason for the education gradient in drug utilization is doctors' behaviour rather than compliance with medication and affordability of drugs.
本研究分析了药物利用的社会经济梯度。我们使用了瑞典处方药物登记处（与生活条件调查（ULF）合并），研究样本包括 8138 个人。在控制健康指标后，我们发现药物利用存在正的教育梯度（但没有收入梯度）。在受过高等教育的男性中，使用的药物数量较多，而受过高等教育的女性使用的药物数量更多，药物也更昂贵。对于男性来说，我们发现这种教育梯度在与健康相关的药物上较弱，但在更昂贵的药物上较强，这种情况不如女性明显。我们的结论是，药物利用教育梯度的主要原因是医生的行为，而不是对药物的遵守和药物的可负担性。
