Læknablaðið : fylgirit - 01.03.1983, Síða 110

at ages 50 - 59 years, while for all age groups the
quantity prescribed is even and very large. It is interesting
to note that widows use much less diazepam 10 mg than would
be expected from the average ratio between 5 mg and 10 mg
tablets .2)
4. Divorced
For divorced women the number of prescriptions for diazepam
5 mg is by far the highest in the 40 - 59 year old age group,
while for divorced men it is highest in the 50 - 59 year old
age group. It is noticable that consumption by divorced
men drops sharply after 70 years of age.
There is a peak in diazepam 10 mg prescriptions for both
sexes in the age grcups 30 -39 years, but after that age
the number of prescriptions declines. The use of mebumal
by divorced men increases rapidly from the age of 40 to
reach a maximum at age 70 and older. This hypnotic is
generally used more by men than women.
Summary.
Comparison between age groups
The number of prescriptions is clearly lowest in the
youngest age group, 20-29 years old, and for both sexes
the maximum occurs in the age group 50 - 59 years.
There are some exceptions from this general rule, e.g. the
antibiotic ampicillin, which shows an even pattern of
prescriptions, and the mebumal, where there is an even
increase up to a maximum in the age group 70 years and older .
Comparison between marital status groups
1. The number of prescriptions given to divorced and widowed
persons is clearly much higher than to married and unmarried
ones. This applies in particular to sedatives and hypnoti
but less to antibiotics.
2. Comparison between divorced and widowed persons shows a
generally higher number of prescriptions to the divorced.
However, as regards the younger age groups of widowed
persons, the results should be interpreted with caution,
as the number of individuals is small enough for individual
abuse to cause substantial increases.
3. No great differences are to be discerned between married
people and those who have not married. What is to the
authors chiefly noticable is that drugs prescriptions to
single persons tend to show a peak in the younger age grounc
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