Patterns of medication use among children in households enrolled in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.

This study examined patterns of medication use among children in 791 families, in two counties in Mississippi, which had children enrolled in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. One-twelfth of the interviews were conducted each month via household interviews. Interviews were completed in 540 households containing 1616 children (48.8% male, 80.9% black). Thirteen percent had taken at least one prescription drug and 21.5% had taken at least one over-the-counter (OTC) drug in the previous 2 wk. Analgesics (29.4%), cough/cold remedies (19.2%), vitamins (15.7%), and anti-infective agents (12.4%) accounted for three-fourths of the instances of drug use. Over three-fourths (76.4%) of the prescriptions were new and 61.2% were paid for by Medicaid. Approximately three-fifths (62.7%) of OTC medicine uses were with medications already on hand. For prescription medications the physician was the source of information on use in 87.7% of uses. For OTC use, the comparable percentage was 24.6.