Agency for Healthcare 

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Research and Quality 

STATISTICAL BRIEF #58 

December 2004 

Chronic Conditions and Outpatient 

Prescription Medicines for Persons 

18 and Older in the U.S. Civilian 

Noninstitutionalized Population, 1987 

and 2001 

Marie N. Stagnitti, MPA and Mamatha Pancholi, MS 

Introduction 

This Statistical Brief compares data from 1987 and 2001 on the 

use of prescribed medicines in the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized (community) age 18 and older (adult) population as part of 

the treatment for specific chronic conditions. Statistics from 1987 

and 2001 are presented on the percentage of the adult community population who reported having a selected condition and the 

percentage receiving a prescribed medication as treatment for 

that condition. This brief, the third in a three-part series comparing statistics from 1987 and 2001 on selected conditions and 

outpatient prescribed medicines utilization and expenditures,1 

provides information on how the use of prescribed medicines to 

treat selected chronic conditions in the adult community population has changed over time. 

The data used to estimate the statistics in this brief are derived 

from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) and 

the Household Component of the 2001 Medical Expenditure 

Panel Survey (MEPS-HC). All results discussed are statistically 

significant at the 0.05 level. Over-the-counter medicines and free 

samples are not included in these estimates. 

Conditions in this brief are household-reported conditions that 

are coded by professional medical coders using the International 

Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9). Condition 

categories were aggregated into clinically meaningful categories 

by using Clinical Classification Software (CCS), which was formerly known as Clinical Classifications for Health Policy 

Research (CCHPR). Adults with a condition in this brief are 

defined as those who reported the condition as the reason for 

1

 Statistical Briefs #33, #43, and #58 

Highlights 

� The percentage of adults 

who reported having high 

cholesterol was over five 

times higher in 2001 (7.8 

percent) than in 1987 (1.4 

percent). 

� Of the percentage of 

adults who reported 

having high cholesterol, 

those who reported taking 

a prescribed medicine to 

treat high cholesterol 

more than doubled from 

1987 (39.1 percent) to 

2001 (89.7 percent). 

� The percentage of adults 

who reported having 

diabetes increased nearly 

one and one-half times 

when comparing 1987 to 

2001 (4.1 percent versus 

6.0 percent).

� The percentage of adults 

who reported having 

diabetes and taking a 

prescribed medicine to 

treat diabetes increased 

when comparing 1987 

(83.3 percent) to 2001 

(92.9 percent).
use of medical care during the year. Adults with a condition who did not report receiving any medical 

visits or prescribed drugs for the condition in the reference year are excluded from this analysis.2 

Prescribed medicines that linked to more than one condition category were represented in all categories 

mentioned by the respondent. 

Findings 

In 1987 and 2001, the percentages of the U.S. community adult population who reported having high 

blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and high cholesterol were as follows: 

1987 2001 

Household-reported Number of adults Percentage Number of adults Percentage 

condition who reported of total adult who reported of total adult 

condition population condition population 

High blood pressure 23.2 million 13.5 33.9 million 16.0 

Heart disease 13.0 million 7.6 15.9 million 7.5 

Diabetes 7.0 million 4.1 12.7 million 6.0 

High cholesterol 2.4 million 1.4 16.6 million 7.8 

The percentage of the community adult population who reported having high cholesterol increased over 

fivefold when comparing 1987 to 2001 (1.4 percent to 7.8 percent) (figure 1). The percentage of adults 

who reported having diabetes (4.1 percent versus 6.0 percent) increased just under one and one-half 

times when comparing 1987 and 2001 (figure 2). In 2001, a higher percentage of the community adult 

population reported having high blood pressure (16.0 percent) when compared to the percentage 

reported having high blood pressure in 1987 (13.5 percent). The percentage of the community adult 

population who reported having heart disease did not change significantly when comparing 1987 and 

2001. 

In 1987 and 2001, the percentages of the U.S. community adult population who reported having high 

blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and high cholesterol and taking a prescribed medicine to treat 

those conditions were as follows: 

1987 2001 

Household-reported 

condition 

Number of adults 

who reported taking 

a prescribed 

medicine for 

Percentage of 

adults who reported 

taking a prescribed 

medicine for 

Number of adults 

who reported taking 

a prescribed 

medicine for 

Percentage of 

adults who reported 

taking a prescribed 

medicine for 

condition condition condition condition 

High blood pressure 21.8 million 94.1 32.7 million 96.5 

Heart Disease 10.6 million 81.3 12.2 million 76.5 

Diabetes 5.8 million 83.3 11.8 million 92.9 

High cholesterol .9 million 39.1 14.9 million 89.7 

The percentage of the community adult population who reported having high cholesterol and having 

purchased a prescribed medicine to treat high cholesterol more than doubled from 1987 to 2001 (39.1 

percent to 89.7 percent) (figure 3). When comparing 1987 to 2001, the percentage of adults who reported 

having diabetes and purchasing a prescribed medicine to treat diabetes increased as well (83.3 percent 

to 92.9 percent) (figure 4). There was no significant change in the percentage of those adults who 

reported having heart disease and purchasing a prescribed medicine to treat heart disease when 

comparing 1987 to 2001, and there was also no significant increase or decrease in the percentage of 

adults who reported having high blood pressure and having purchased a prescribed medicine to treat 

high blood pressure when comparing 1987 and 2001. 

2

 Changes in clinical definitions of chronic conditions that may have occurred between 1987 and 2001 are not accounted for in this 

brief. 
About MEPS and NMES 

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is the third in a series of nationally representative surveys 

of medical care use and expenditures. MEPS is cosponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality and the National Center for Health Statistics. MEPS collects nationally representative data on 

health care use, expenditures, sources of payment, and insurance coverage for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. The first survey, the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey (NMCES) was 

conducted in 1977; and the second survey, the National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES), was 

carried out in 1987. 

NMES and MEPS data are released to the public in public use data files. NMES data files are available 

from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse (E-mail: ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov). MEPS data files are available 

on the MEPS Web site (www.meps.ahrq.gov). 

References 

For a detailed description of the MEPS-HC survey design, sample design, and methods used to minimize 

sources on nonsampling error, see the following publications: 

Cohen, J. Design and Methods of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. MEPS 

Methodology Report No. 1. AHCPR Pub. No. 97-0026. Rockville, Md.: Agency for Health Care Policy and 

Research, 1997. 

Cohen, S. Sample Design of the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. MEPS 

Methodology Report No. 2. AHCPR Pub. No. 97-0027. Rockville, Md.: Agency for Health Care Policy and 

Research, 1997. 

For more information on the method in which clinical classification codes were aggregated into 

meaningful categories, please see the following: 

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Clinical Classifications Software (CCS). Rockville, Md.: 

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, November 2004. Available on the AHRQ Web site at 

http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/toolssoftware/ccs/ccs.jsp

. For more information on the NMES survey design, see the following publications: 

Cohen, S., R. DiGaetano, and J. Waksberg. Sample design of the 1987 Household Survey. AHCPR Pub. 

No. 91-0037. National Medical Expenditure Survey Methods 3. Agency for Healthcare Policy and 

Research. Rockville, Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, 1991. 

Edwards, W. and M. Berlin. Questionnaires and data collection methods for the household survey and the 

survey of American Indians and Alaskan Natives. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 89-3450. National Medical 

Expenditure Survey Methods 2. National Center for Health Services Research and Health Care 

Technology Assessment. Rockville, Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health 

Service, 1989. 

For more information for consumers about prescribed medicines and taking them safely, see Your 

Medicine: Play It Safe, a guide developed by AHRQ and the National Council on Patient Information and 

Education and available on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/safemeds. 

htm.

For more information about maintaining good health for adults, see The Pocket Guide to Good Health for 

Adults, developed by AHRQ and available on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/ppip/adguide/. 

Suggested Citation 

Stagnitti, M. N. and Pancholi, M. Chronic Conditions and Outpatient Prescription Medicines for Persons 

18 and Older in the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 1987 and 2001. Statistical Brief #58. 

December 2004. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/ 

papers/st58/stat58.pdf
1.4 

7.8 

0 

5 

10 

Percent 

1987 2001 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey 

and the Household Component of the 2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

Figure 1. Percentage of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population 

age 18 and older reporting having high cholesterol, 1987 and 2001 

Figure 2. Percentage of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population 

age 18 and older reporting having diabetes, 1987 and 2001 

4.1 

6.0 

0 

2 

4 

6 

8 

10 

Percent 

1987 2001 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey 

and the Household Component of the 2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 
Figure 3. Percentage of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population 

age 18 and older reporting having high cholesterol and taking a 

prescribed medicine to treat high cholesterol, 1987 and 2001 

39.1 

89.7 

0 

50 

100 

Percent 

1987 2001 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey 

and the Household Component of the 2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

Figure 4. Percentage of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population 

medicine to treat diabetes, 1987 and 2001 

83.3 

92.9 

0 

50 

100 

Percent 

1987 2001 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey 

and the Household Component of the 2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

age 18 and older reporting having diabetes and taking a prescribed