Sociodemographic profile of medicines users in Brazil: results from the 2014 PNAUM survey

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of medicine use by the Brazilian population and its distribution according to sociodemographic factors. METHODS: Study using data from the Pesquisa Nacional de Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos (PNAUM – National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines), a nationwide household survey of a representative sample of the Brazilian urban population. The data were collected between September 2013 and February 2014. The overall use of medicines, defined as the use of any medicine, use of medicines for treating chronic medical conditions and for acute health conditions, was evaluated. The independent variables included gender, age group, socioeconomic position, and region of Brazil. Analyzes included prevalence calculations, 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) and Pearson Chi-square tests to evaluate the differences between groups, considering a 5% level of significance. RESULTS: The prevalence of medicines use was 50.7% (95%CI 49.3–52.2), with 39.3% (95%CI 37.5–41.1) accounting for men and 61.0% (95%CI 59.3–62.6) for women. Medicines use was observed to increase with increasing age, except among children within the zero to four years age group. The lowest prevalence for medicines use was found among those with a low socioeconomic position and those who reside in the North region of Brazil. The prevalence of medicine use to treat chronic diseases was 24.3% (95%CI 23.3–25.4), whereas it was 33.7% (95%CI 32.1–35.4) for treating acute diseases. CONCLUSIONS: We found extensive variability in the prevalence of medicines use across regions of Brazil. The poorest regions (North, Northeast, and Midwest) have a lower prevalence of medicines use to treat chronic diseases, indicating the need to minimize inequalities in access to medicines within the country.