� 

Number 85. October 8, 1982 

Summary Data From the National Inventory of Pharmacists: 

United States, 1978–79 

By Gloria Kapantais, Office of Vital and Health Care Statistics Program 

* 

‘w 

Supply of pharmacists 

Between May 1977 and June 1979, the National 

Center for Health Statistics conducted an inventory of 

all licensed pharmacists in the United States. The data 

-ollection spanned 2 years in an effort to time each 

te’s survey to correspond with its license renewal 

eriod for pharmacists. 

Results from this survey indicate that there were 

160,664 licensed pharmacists, of which 112,335 were 

known to be active in their profession, 20,912 were 

inactive, and the activity status of 27,417 was unknown 

(table 1). As seen in this table, the percent of active 

pharmacists decreases as age increases. For those 

under age 30, 95 percent were active, while only 47 

percent of those 65 years and older were active. This 

trend occurs among both sexes, although at every age a 

smaller percent of licensed female pharmacists are 

active. Table 1 indicates that 21 percent of active 

pharmacists are under age 30, while 12 percent are age 

60 and over. Therefore, there is a sufllcient influx of 

young pharmacists into the profession to replace the 

older pharmacists who are most likely to be leaving the 

profession. 

In table 2, the activity status for those pharmacists 

who did not report this information is imputed by 

apportioning the 27,417 pharmacists with unknown 

activity status into categories in the same ratio as 

among the pharmacists whose activity status is known. 

Of the resulting 135,449 active pharmacists, the largest 

number is located in the South (43,932). New England 

s the highest ratio of active pharmacists per 100,000 

>pulation (69.0), while the Paciilc division has the 

owest ratio (55.9). 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

Iil 1978–79, there were 18,115 known female 

pharmacists who were active in ke~profession, which 

accounts for 16 percent of the supply of active phar- “ 

macists of known sex (table 1). Nearly three-fourths 

(71 percent) of the female pharmacists were under age 

40. 

The distribuhon of the 112,335 known active 

pharrqacists by age, race, and Hispanic origin is shown 

in table, 3. Active minority pharmacists constituted 

‘about 5 percent of all practicing pharmacists. Nearly 

two-thirds of these minority pharmacists were oriental, 

and approximately one-third were black. In 1978–79, 

nearly 2 percent of the practicing pharmacists were of 

Hispanic descent. 

Work setting 

In table 4 it is shown that 72 percent of the known 

active pharmacists were employed in pharmacies. Of 

the three types of pharmacies specified in the survey, 

the independent community pharmacy employed the 

largest number (38,408), with chain pharmacies employing 28,423 pharmacists, and clinic or medical 

building pharmacies employing only 3,968 pharmacists. Hospitals employed about 20 percent of the 

pharmacists, while nursing homes employed a very 

small percent (1.6 percent). The remaining pharmacists were employed by pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, colleges of pharmacy, or other employers. 

It is seen in table 5 that ahnost all (nearly 83 

percent) women pharmacists are salaried (manager, 

assistant manager, or staff pharmacist), while twothirds of male pharmacists are. Employment as a staff 

Public Health Service 

— 
2 

pharmacist is one of the forms of practice in which 

females are able to work part-time. This is the principal 

form of employment for 82 percent of the part-time 

female pharmacists. 

Of the 112,335 pharmacists known to be active in 

their profession, half (52, 129 or 50.8 percent) worked 

36–45 hours a week (table 5). A larger percent of males 

worked 40 hours or more a week than females. As 

would be expected, the longest hours were worked by 

those pharmacists who were sole owners of their 

principal form of employment. Over 80 percent worked 

46 or rn~re hours a week. 

Inactive pharmacists 

A total of 20,912 known inactive pharmacists were 

surveyed, which was 16 percent of all licensed pharmacists in the survey (table 6). These pharmacists 

represent a potential source of manpower because they 

are trained and licensed and may at any time enter or 

return to the profession. In terms of potential pharmacist resources, 12 percent of the inactive phar “ 

macists are seeking work in the profession. An add, 

tional 8 percent are homemakers. Less than half of theT 

inactive pharmacists (45 percent) said the y are inactive 

because they are retired. 

The actual unemployment rate in the profession is 

less than 2 percent. That is based on the number of 

inactive pharmacists seeking work relative to the total 

number of licensed pharmacists. Licensed inactive 

pharmacists under 40 are usually in another field and 

are not seeking work in pharmacy, or are homemakers. 

Additional data on the results of the 1978-79 

national inventory of pharmacists will appear in a 

future Vital and Health Statistics publication. 1 

lNati~na] Center for Heal~ Statistics, H. Davis: Characteristics of pharmacists: United States, 197 8–7 9. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 14. 

Public Health Service, DHHS, Hyattsville, Md. To be published. 

Symbols 

..- Data not available 

. . . Category not applicable 

Quantity zero 

0.0 Quantity more than zero but less than 

0.05


z	 Quantity more than zero but less than 500 

where numbers are rounded to thousands 

* Figure does not meet standards of 

reliability or precision 

#	 Figure suppressed to comply with 

confidentiality requirements 

.7’f-
1


* 

Table 1, Number and percent distribution of licensed pharmaciata by sex and activity atetua, according to age: United States, 1978–79 

All licensed pharmacists Male Femala Sex unknown 

Aga 

Total Active Inactive Unknown Total Active Inactive Unknown Total Active Inactive Unknown Total Active Inactive Unknown 

Number 

All agea . . . . . . . . . . . . 160,664 112,335 20,912 27,417 133,474 94,158 16,997 22,319 26,147 18,115 3,845 4,187 1,043 62 70 911 

Under 30 years. . 24,975 23,604 1,371 16,644 15,931 713 8,318 7,664 654 13 9 4 

30–39 yeara . . . . . . . . 35,580 32,264 3,316 29,337 27,085 2,252 6,223 5,160 1,063 20 19 1 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . 25,769 23,096 2,673 25,569 20,544 2,025 3,185 2,540 645 15 12 3 

W-59year s.,...... 21,454 19,059 2,395 18,976 17,155 1,821 2,465 1,896 569 13 8 5 

60-64 yeara . . . . . . . . 7,127 5,649 1,478 6,525 5,251 1,274 600 397 203 2 1 1 

65 years and over 16,867 7,844 9,023 15,832 7,501 8,331 989 342 647 0 46 1 45 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . 28,892 819 656 27.417 23.591 691 581 22,319 4,367 116 64 4,187 934 12 11 911 

Percent distribution 

All agea . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,0 84.3 15.7 ,., 100 84.7 15.3 ,., 100 82.5 17,5 100 47.0 53.0 

Under 30 years. . . . 100.0 94.5 5.5 ,,. 100 95.7 4:3 ,,. 100 92.1 7.9 100 69.2 30.8 ,,. 

30-39 years . . . . . . . . 100.0 90.7 9.3 100 92.3 7.7 ,,. 100 82.9 17.1 100 95.0 5.0 .,. 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . 100.0 69.6 10.4 ,.. 100 91.0 9.0 100 79.7 20.3 .,, 100 80.0 20.0 

50–59 years . . . . . . . . 100,0 88.8 11.2 100 90.4 9.6 ::: 100 76.9 23.1 ,., 100 61.5 38.5 . . 

60-64 years . . . . . . . . 100.0 79.3 20.7 ,., 100 80.5 19.5 .,. 100 66.2 33.8 ,.. 100 50.0 50.0 

65 yeara and over 100.0 46.5 53.5 ,,, 100 47.4 52.6 100 34.6 65.4 100 2.2 97,8 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 55.5 44,5 ,,, 100 54.3 45.7 ,., 100 64.4 35,6 100 52.2 47,8 

II 

CA) 
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4 admncedata 

Table 2. Active pharmacists, U.S. resident population, and active pharmacists per 100,000 people, by geographic region and division: United States, 1978–79 

U.S. resident Active Active pharmaci 

Geographic region and division pharmacists, population 

in thousands, 2 uer 100, OOOpeOpJa 1978–791 1978-79 1978 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135,449 222,095 61.0 

31,426 49,244 63.8 

8,482 12,303 69.0 

22,944 36,942 62.1 

35,695 58,538 61.0 

24,673 41,509 59.4 

11,022 .17,028 64.7 

43,932 73,003 60.2 

20,937 35,882 58.3 

8,845 14,395 61.4 

14,150 22,725 62.3 

24,142 41,311 58.4 

7,064 10,746 65.7 

17,078 30,565 55.9 

254 . . . . . 

1 Num~erofactive Pharma~i~t~ (I 12,335) adjusted to include corresponding proportion of pharmacists with unknown activity status (84306 Percent Of 27AJ 7 = .23,1 14additicmal active 

~harma.ists }. D ataentrias increased proportionally. 

Asof Julyl. Data from U.S. Bureau of the Census: Preliminary estimates of the intercensal population of States: 1970to 1980, Series 1, Washington. 

3jnclude~Pharmacist~ working in u.s, territories and foreign countries. 

NOTE See “Technical notes” for States included in each geographic raoion and division, 

Table3. Number andpercent distribution of active pharmacists byage, according toraceand Hispanic origin: United States, l978-79 � 

Age 

Race and Hispanic origin Total Under 30 30–39 40-49 50-59 60-64 65 years Unknown 

years years years years years and over 

All active pharmacists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112,335 23,604 32,264 23,096 19,059 5,649 7,844 819 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,422 18,683 26,299 18,564 15,436 4,637 6,638 165 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,730 344 577 346 325 60 78 . . . 

American lndian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 33 42 25 30 7 7 

Oriental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,048 941 1,230 502 288 59 28 -.. 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 27 42 10 12 1 2 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,897 3,576 4,074 3,649 2,968 885 1,091 654 

Hispanic origin 

All active pharmacists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112,335 23,604 32,264 23,096 19,059 5,649 7,844 819 

Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,671 368 480 399 313 49 61 1 

Non-Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86,481 17,572 25,175 17,872 14,824 4,490 6,399 149 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,183 5,664 6,609 4,825 3,922 1,110 1,384 669 

. 

Pwcent distribution 

All active pharmacists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 21.2 28.9 20.7 17.1 5.1 7,0 . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011.o 20,7 29.1 20.6 17.1 5.1 7.4 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 19.9 33.4 20.0 18.8 3.5 4,5 

American lndian ., ., ., .,.,.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 22.9 29.2 17.4 20.8 4.9 4.9 . . Oriental, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 30.9 40.4 16.5 9.5 1.9 0.9 . . Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 28.7 44.7 10.6 12.8 1.1 2.1 

Hispanic origin 

Allactive 

Hispanic . .

pharmacista 

. . . . . . . . . .

..,.,.... 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. 

. .

. 

. . . . .

. 

. .

. 

. .

. 

. . . . . 

100.0 

100.0 22.0 

21.2 

28.7 

28.9 

23.9 

20.7 17.1 

18.7 

5.1 

2.9 

7.0 

3.7 . .

. 

. 

0

Non-Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 20.4 29.2 20.7 17.2 5.2 7.4 . . . 
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ahmceda5 

Table4. Number andpercent distribution ofactive pharmacists byprima~employment setiing, according toag& United States, 1978-79 

Age 

0 

0’ 

All active Primary employment setting pharmacists Under 30 30-39 40-49 50-59 

All settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Independent community pharmacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Chain pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Clinic ormedical building pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Nursing home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Pharmaceutical manufacturer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

College of pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

All settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Independent community pharmacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Chain pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Clinic ormedicai building pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Nursing home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Pharmaceutical manufacturer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

College ofpharrnacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

years yearn years years 

Number 

112,335 23,604 32,264 23,096 19,059 

38,408 4,994 9,235 9,300 8,045 

28,423 7,755 9,086 5,439 3,993 

3,968 835 1,242 814 647 

19,603 6,305 6,980 2,743 2,320 

1,551 447 458 270 185 

2,476 206 682 775 582 

1,288 294 457 224 217 

2,554 349 718 653 527 

14,063 2,419 3,407 2,878 2,543 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

39.1 23.6 32.0 46.0 48.7 

28.9 36.6 31.5 26.9 24.2 

4.0 3.9 4.3 4.0 3.9 

19.9 29.8 24.2 13.6 14.0 

1.6 2.1 1.6 1.3 1.1 

2.5 1.0 2.4 3.8 3.5 

1.3 1.4 1.6 1.1 1.3 

2.6 1.6 2.5 3.2 3.2 

60-64 65 years Unknown 

years and over 

5,649 7,844 819 

2,428 4,279 129 

1,063 990 97 

179 245 8 

649 538 67 

61 128 2 

158 67 6 

56 36 4 

162 138 6 

895 1,423 500 

100.0 100.0 . . . 

51.1 66.7 . . . 

22.3 15.4 . . . 

3.8 3.8 . . . 

13.7 8.4 

1,3 2.0 . . . 

3.3 1.0 . . . 

1.2 0.6 . . . 

3.4 2.1 . . . 

Table 5. Number of active pharmacists and total hours worked per weak, by principal form of employment and sex: United States, 1978–79 

Total hours 

All active 

Principal form of employment and sex pharmacists 1-35 36-45 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Sole owner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Partner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Manager’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Staff pharmacist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

nknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

112,335 13,453 52.129 

94,158 8,323 42,727 

18,115 5,128 9,341 

62 2 1 

16,490 541 2,420 

16,069 483 2,330 

421 58 90 

. . . 

9,458 591 2,654 

8,984 444 2,534 

474 147 120 

..-

30,808 1,417 18,716 

27,277 1,019 16,227 

3,531 398 2,489 

..-

41,152 9,600 25,297 

29,711 5,396 19,038 

11,440 4,204 6,258 

1 .-. . . . 

5,962 976 2,486 

5,191 735 2,166 

771 241 320 

8,465 328 553 

6,926 246 492 

1,478 80 63 

61 2 1 

46 and Unknown over 

37,049 9,704 

35,193 7,855 

1,855 1,791 

‘f 58 

13,111 418 

12,855 401 

256 17 

6,045 168 

5,854 152 

191 16 

10,262 413 

9,671 360 

591 53 

-.. 

5,020 1,235 

4,398 879 

622 355 

. . . 1 

2,230 270 

2,055 235 

175 35 

. . . 

381 7,200 

360 5,828 

20 1,315 

1 57 

1lrrcludesassistant manager. 

2hrcludes volunteers. 
6 adwincedata 

Table6. Number of inactive pharmacists andreason forinactivi~, bysexand age: United States, l978 

Unemployed Working in other field 

All 

Sex and age ina crive Rat/red Seeking Not seeking Seeking Not seeking Other Unknown @ 

pharmacists work in work in work in work in Homemake) 

pharmacy pharmacyf ftharmacy pharmacy 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,912 7,879 1,469 272 576 4,587 1,397 1,322 3,410 

Under 30 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,371 9 247 72 70 263 224 267 219 

30-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,316 17 281 54 148 1,510 653 304 449 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,673 56 218 52 126 1,278 300 235 408 

50-59 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,395 305 257 43 126 875 214 247 327 

60-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,478 663 131 15 36 268 41 120 204 

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,023 6,403 326 35 68 313 52 138 1,688 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 425 9 1 2 80 13 11 115 

Male, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,997 7,282 1,045 194 476 4,187 35 1,033 2,745 

Under 30 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713 7 118 46 49 203 3 167 120 

30–39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,252 11 154 34 128 1,396 8 220 301 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,025 41 141 35 106 1,196 4 194 308 

50-59 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,821 249 197 33 98 783 5 214 242 

60–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,274 601 117 11 32 240 2 104 167 

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,331 5,984 310 34 62 292 12 127 1,510 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581 389 6 1 1 77 1 7 97 

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,845 586 424 78 99 400 1,362 289 607 

Under 30 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654 2 129 26 21 60 221 100 96 

30-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,063 6 127 20 20 114 545 84 147 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 15 77 17 20 82 296 41 97 

50-59 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569 56 60 10 28 92 209 33 81 

60–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 62 14 4 4 28 39 16 36 

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 415 16 1 6 21 40 11 137 

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 30 1 ..- .-. 3 12 4 14 

1,n a few ~tste~, this WaS phrassd as “’intrainin9 in pha~acw.” 

21”clude~ To inactive pharmacists with sex unknown. 

t 

* 
Technical notes 

mource of data 

The 1978-79 national inventory of pharmacists 

was conducted through two separate but parallel mechanisms. The first was the Cooperative Health Statistics 

System (CHSS).Z Those States with a CHSS manpower component contract collected data cm pharmacists and submitted to the National Center for Health 

Statistics a specified set of data elements, using standardized processing specifications. The second data 

collection mechanism was for the remaining 28 nonCHSS States (including the District of Columbia). It 

utilized a single contractor, the American Association 

of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), to collect the same 

data items as the CHSS States. Similar data collection 

methodologies were used by both the CHSS State contractors and the AACP to insure uniformity of the 

data, which permitted the statistics from both mechanisms to be merged into a single national data fde. 

Because pharmacists were surveyed and counted 

in each State in which they were licensed, a mechanism 

had to be developed to remove duplicate counts resulting from multiple Iicensure. The total number of 

pharmacist records prior to the removal of duplicate 

and multiple records was 207,169. The procedures 

eveloped for removing duplicate records and for 

producing a national data fde in which each pharmacist is counted only once have been described in detail 

in another publication.3 After the removal of duplicates, a total of 160,664 records remained, one for 

each licensed pharmacist, regardless of the number of 

States in which a pharmacist holdq licenses. 

The questionnaire mailout spanned 2 years, in 

order to coordinate the mailings with the license 

renewal period of each State. States not only stagger 

their license renewal dates at varying times of the year 

but some also have biennial instead of annual renewal 

cycles. In all States the contractor (either the AACP or 

CHSS State agency) worked with the State licensing 

board to send the questionnaires to all licensed pharmacists. 

Although the data from this survey are labeled as 

1978–79, it should be noted that only 88 percent of the 

States collected data during these years. The remaining 

data were collected during 1977 or 1980. The Vital 

and Health Statistics series report on this survey will 

‘give the particular year of the data from each State.1 

ational Center for Health Statistics: The Cooperative Health Statistics 

stem: Its mission and program. Vitaland Health Wztistics.Series 4-No. 

9. DHEW Pub. No. (HRA) 77-I 456. Heakh Resources Administration. 

Washington.	 U.S. Government Printing Ofice, Apr. 1977.


3Nation~ Center for Health Statistics, Ronald Biggar Procedures for


reduplication of pharmacy and optometry data. Working Paper Series. No. 

9. Feb. 1982. 

Response rate 

The overall questionnaire response rate was 84 

percent. In some CHSS States information that was a 

part of the survey questiomaire was already available 

in State licensing board records and therefore did not 

have to be asked. In the case of nonrespondents this 

information was provided directly from the existing 

records. This resulted in records of nonrespondents 

containing data that otherwise would be missing. When 

data are available on nonrespondents, they are used in 

this report without distinction for response status. 

Adjustment for item nonresponse 

Imputations for selected item nonresponse were 

performed on those records containing sufilcient other 

data permitting such computations. The following selected items were imputed: year of birth, year of 

graduation, sex, Hispanic origin, academic degree held 

in pharmacy, and activity status. 

Definitions 

Practice settings are defined as follows: 

.	 Chain pharmacy: small-or large-chain community 

pharmacy. 

� Hospital: Government or other hospital. 

Active pharmacists are placed in their work State. 

When work State was missing from a record, the 

following hierarchy was used for determining the State 

in which to place the pharmacist ( 1) residence State 

when it equaIed mail State, (2) Iicensure State when it 

equaled residence or mail State, (3) mail State, and 

(4) Iicensure State. 

Inactive pharmacists are placed in their residence 

State. Mail State is used when data on residence State 

are missing. If both States are missing, licensure State 

is used. 

Geographic region and division are defined as 

follows: 

Geographic region and division 

Northeast 

New England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Mid Atlantic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

North Central 

East North Central. . . . . . . . . . 

West North Central. . . . . . . . . 

States included 

Maine, New Hampshire, Ver­


mont, Massachusetts, Rhode ls-


Iand, and Connecticut


New York, New Jersey, and


Pennsylvania


Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michi­


gan, and Wisconsin


Minnesota, lowa, Missouri,


North Dakota, South Dakota,


Nebraska, and Kanaas


* 

@ 
8 advancedata 

Geographic region and Geographic region and States included—Con. States inchrded—Con. division—Con. division—Con. 

South West 

South Atlantic . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delaware, Maryland, District of Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, ColColumbia, Virainia, West Vir- orado, New Mexico, Arizona, @ 

ginia, North ~arolina, South Utah, and Nevada 

Carolina, Georgia, and Florida Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Washington, Oregon, Alaska, 

East South Central. . . . . . . Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, California, and Hawaii 

and Mississippi 

West South Central. . . . . . . Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, 

and Texas 

Recent Issues of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics 

No. 84. Blood Pressure Levels and Hypertension in Persons Ages No. 81. Drug Utilization in Office Practice by Age and Sex of the


6-74 Years: United States, 1976-80 (Issued: October 8, 1982) Patienfi National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, United


No. 83. Deliveries in Short-Stay Hospitals: United States, 1980 States, 1980 (Issued: July 26, 1982)


(Issued: October 8, 1982) No. 80. Medication Therapy in OffIce Visits for Hypertension:


No. 82. Contraceptive Use Patterns, Prior Source, and Pregnancy National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, United States, 1980


History of Female Family Planuing Patients: United States, 1980 (Issued July 22, 1982)


(Issued: June 16, 1982)


SUGGESTED CITATION 

NationalJer&for Health Statistic, Gloria Kapantais: 

Summary Data From the National Inventory of 

Pharmacists: Unitad States, 1978–79. Advance Data COPYRIGHT INFORMATION 

From Vital and Health Statistics, No, 85. DH HS 

Pub. No. (PHS) 82–1 250. Public Health This report may be reprinted without further 

Service, Hyattsville, Md. October 8, 1982 permission. 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH POSTAGE AND FEES PAID 

AND HUMAN SERVICES U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HHS 

Public Health Service HHS 396 . 

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3700 East-West Highway THIRD CLPSS %] 

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OFFICIAL BUSINESS 

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE, $300 

To raceive this publication regularly, contact the 

National Center for Health Statistics by calling 

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DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 82-1250