Characteristics of high-frequency consumers of prescription psychoactive drugs.

Two cohorts of white middle-class housewives who reported themselves as high-frequency consumers of prescription sedatives, tranquilizers, and stimulants have been studied and their characteristics have been reported. One group of these women are residents of a Midwestern state, and the other in a Southern state. These women can best be described as follows: Most reported their primary physician as being a general practitioner (60%), and most reported they had consulted two or more separate physicians during the last year (78%). More than a third (36%) had seen at least three different physicians. Interestingly, while most of these women were consulting general practitioners and/or internists, almost a third were presenting them with general psychological complaints. The self-reported high-frequency users most frequently used the relaxants/minor tranquilizers (64%), followed by sedatives (41%), stimulants (31%), and major tranquilizers (7%). Almost half of all these high-frequency medicine consumers were also regular drinkers (47%), and some 13 to 17% could be considered as heavy drinkers. The majority of the relaxant/minor tranquilizer users had been taking the medications daily or several times a week for at least six months. Less than half of these users, however, felt their "condition" had gotten "better." The majority of the sedative users had also been taking the medications daily or several times a week for at least six months. Less than a third of these users felt the condition that precipitated the prescription had improved during this period of use. Of major importance, only a minority of these long-term high-frequency users of sedatives and relaxants/minor tranquilizers believe these drugs to be habit-forming or to have any potential for physical or psychological harm. Although the stimulant-users were also found to be high-frequency consumers, stimulant-users were found to have been using these drugs for a shorter period of time. There also appears to be more confusion about the potential for physical and/or psychological damage in the long-term use of stimulants among those women than among the users of sedatives and/or minor tranquilizers. It is significant to note that stimulant-users felt that they had gotten "better" more than those who had used sedatives and/or tranquilizers. These two interview studies among housewives tend to confirm several of our earlier survey findings among people who use these drugs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)