Pharmaceuticals - Assessment: Highest-ever number of drugs being prescribed.
Medical practitioners dished out more meds than ever last year, as per Techniker Health Insurance's findings. Following their analysis of the data, they found that their policyholders received an average of 275 daily doses, a 2.5% surge from the previous year. The numbers were significantly lower back in 2000, when they were at 201 daily doses. The rise over the years is a whopping 37%!
The condition responsible for the highest medication intake is hypertension, as it occupied the top spot for prescriptions with an average of 105 daily doses for drugs like blood pressure reducers. Thirty-seven daily doses were needed for gastrointestinal issues and heartburn medications, and another 29 daily doses were prescribed for nervous system ailments like antidepressants.
Reports show that the prescription rates heavily vary between the states. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, both with around 250 daily doses, saw the least, while Saarland and Saxony-Anhalt hold the highest stake with 313 and 320 daily doses, respectively.
The insurance company used the sick leaves of their 5.7 million policyholders to gather data for the survey.
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- Techniker Health Insurance revealed that the highest prescription of tablets was for patients with high blood pressure in Berlin, with an average of 105 daily doses of blood pressure reducers.
- German policyholders relied on antidepressants as their third-highest medication, with an average of 29 daily doses, according to the analysis conducted by TKK.
- The rise in the prescription of drugs in Germany, as per TKK's findings, resulted in an average of 275 daily doses for each policyholder, with a significant increase from 2000's 201 daily doses.
- Patients in Saxony-Anhalt received the highest number of daily doses, averaging 320, followed closely by Saarland with 313 daily doses, as reported by TKK's study using data from their 5.7 million policyholders.
- The surge in drug prescriptions, as indicated by TKK's analysis, raises concerns about the country's health insurance and the potential impact on Germany's overall medicine and drug consumption.
