These statistics form part of the National Health Survey 2022. More information on other topics of interest from the survey are available on the National Health Survey 2022 page.
Medications
Latest release
Information about medications dispensed through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and over-the-counter medications from the National Health Survey
Reference period
2022
Released
10/05/2024
First release
Key statistics
- Almost seven in ten (68.6%) people were dispensed at least one PBS medication in the 6 months before or after their NHS interview in 2022
- Over eight in ten (83.0%) people with one or more chronic conditions were dispensed at least one PBS medication
- Over two in five (43.5%) people used paracetamol and one in five (20.6%) used ibuprofen in the last two weeks
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications
The Australian Government subsidises the cost of many medicines for Australians through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). The PBS is regarded as a key component of the National Medicines Policy (NMP) which aims to improve positive health outcomes for all Australians through their access to and wise use of medicines[1].
The PBS does not include over-the-counter medications, private prescriptions, dietary supplements, or medications supplied to most public hospital in-patients. It should also be noted that PBS data tells us when a medication is dispensed but not whether the person took the medication.
This analysis includes findings about PBS medications dispensed to National Health Survey (NHS) 2022 survey participants in the 6 months before and after their NHS interview based on the date of supply. The linked NHS 2022 and PBS data provides information on PBS medications dispensed in the context of demographics, health risk factors, and selected chronic conditions. PBS statistics includes both PBS and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) items.
Definitions
People with dispensed medications
Almost seven in ten (68.6%) people were dispensed with at least one PBS medication in the 6 months before or after their NHS interview in 2022. Females were more likely than males to be dispensed with at least one PBS medication (73.5% compared to 63.5%).
Findings from the National Health Survey 2022 demonstrated that as people age, they are more likely to have at least one chronic condition. Additionally, many people with chronic conditions often have more than one condition at the same time (multimorbidity). People may be prescribed medications for the management of their chronic conditions. As expected, the proportion of people who were dispensed with at least one PBS medication increased steadily with age: from one in two (50.4%) children aged 0–17 years, to 72.0% of people aged 45–54 years and almost all (97.6%) people aged 75 years and over.
People dispensed with multiple medications
Although there is no standard definition, polypharmacy is often defined as the routine use of five or more medications at the same time. People who are taking multiple medications are more likely to experience a greater number of side effects[3]. Polypharmacy is therefore important to consider in health policy to ensure vulnerable populations are appropriately targeted. For this analysis, the term ‘multiple medications’ will be used to describe the dispensing of five or more PBS medication types from ATC level 4. It should be noted that PBS data cannot tell us whether multiple medications were routinely used or taken at the same time.
Of those who were dispensed with at least one PBS medication, an average of 4.0 different medication types were provided. Adults aged 18 years and over were dispensed with more types of medication on average than children (4.4 compared to 2.0). People aged 75 years and over had the highest average number of medications dispensed at 8.0 different medication types.
Two in ten (21.4%) people were dispensed with multiple medications, this increased with age to seven in ten (71.5%) for people aged 75 years and over. Three in ten (32.6%) people aged 75 years and over were dispensed with ten or more medication types, this was higher than any other age group.
- Excludes those with no PBS medication dispensed in the 6 months before or after the NHS interview.
As expected, people living in Inner Regional Australia were more likely to be dispensed with multiple medications than those living in Major Cities (26.6% compared to 19.8%). Generally, according to the Estimated Resident Population (ERP), the people living in Major Cities tend to be younger and those living outside of Major Cities tend to be older[4].
People who were living in areas of most disadvantage were more likely to be dispensed with multiple medications than those living in areas of least disadvantage (28.0% compared to 16.6%).
People aged 15 years and over who have ever served in the defence force were more likely to be dispensed with multiple medications than those who had not served (34.5% compared to 25.2%). For more information about Defence Force Personnel, see Service with the Australian Defence Force: Census.
Of those who were dispensed with at least one PBS medication, the average number of medication types dispensed was higher for adults:
- Who had experienced severe/very severe bodily pain in the last four weeks prior to interview than those with very mild/mild bodily pain (7.4 compared to 3.9)
- With a waist circumference that put them at an increased risk of disease compared to those with a lowered risk (4.9 compared to 3.2)
- Who were overweight or obese compared to those who were within the healthy weight range (4.8 compared to 3.6).
Medication types dispensed
According to the National Health Survey 2022, the most commonly reported chronic condition was mental and behavioural conditions (26.1%)[5]. The next most common chronic conditions were back problems (15.7%), arthritis (14.5%), and asthma (10.8%). People may have more than one chronic condition and may be prescribed medication to manage a range of conditions and/or symptoms.
Over one in three (37.8%) people were dispensed with Antiinfectives for systemic use medication, making it the most common PBS medication type dispensed. Other commonly dispensed medication types included:
- Nervous system (26.0%)
- Cardiovascular system (25.5%)
- Alimentary tract and metabolism (19.8%).
Although the overall proportion of people who were dispensed with at least one PBS medication increased with age, the amount of change differed by medication type. For example, the proportion of people who were dispensed Antiinfectives for systemic use remained relatively stable from 33.2% of children through to 36.6% of people aged 45–64 years. This increased to one in two (51.1%) people aged 65 years and over. However, the proportion of people who were dispensed with a Cardiovascular system medication increased markedly with age, from 6.6% of people aged 18–44 years to 37.0% of people aged 45–64 years. This then more than doubled to 77.4% for people aged 65 years and over.
Adults who were dispensed a Nervous system medication were also more likely to be those who:
- Experienced severe/very severe bodily pain in the four weeks prior to interview than those with very mild/mild bodily pain (65.3% compared to 26.7%)
- Experienced high or very high psychological distress than those who experienced low levels of psychological distress (56.9% compared to 23.7%)
- Were current smokers (40.2%) or ex-smokers (37.9%) compared to those who had never smoked (25.8%).
Adults with a measured waist circumference that put them at increased risk of disease were more likely to have been dispensed with a Cardiovascular system medication compared to those at lowered risk (39.1% compared to 15.6%).
For all medication types, people aged 15 years and over who rated their health as fair or poor were consistently more likely to have been dispensed at least one medication compared to those who rated their health as excellent or very good.
Medications dispensed to people with chronic conditions
Long-term health conditions are conditions which were current at the time of the survey interview and had lasted, or were expected to last, 6 months or more. Selected chronic conditions are a subset of long-term health conditions that are common, pose significant health problems, and have been a focus of ongoing public health surveillance[6].
In 2022, nearly half (49.9%) of people had one or more chronic conditions[5]. As people age, they are more likely to have at least one chronic condition. As expected, people with one or more chronic conditions were more likely than those without a chronic condition to have a PBS medication dispensed (83.0% compared to 53.6%). The proportion of people with a chronic condition who were dispensed with at least one PBS medication varied by condition:
- Diabetes – 96.8%
- Osteoporosis – 96.8%
- Heart, stroke and vascular disease – 96.6%
- Kidney disease – 96.4%
- Cancer – 94.8%
- Arthritis – 91.9%
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – 88.6%
- Asthma – 87.3%
- Back problems – 83.1%
- Mental and behavioural conditions – 80.7%.
Although the most common medication type also varied by condition, it is important to note that people may have more than one condition. The most common medication type for each condition may instead be reflective of the fact that there is another condition being managed by that specific medication. For example, of those who had heart, stroke and vascular disease in 2022, over eight in ten (84.8%) had another condition at the same time.
The most common medication type for each selected long-term health conditions was:
- Diabetes: Alimentary tract and metabolism medications (89.1%)
- Osteoporosis: Cardiovascular system medications (71.6%)
- Heart, stroke and vascular disease: Cardiovascular system medications (88.6%)
- Kidney disease: Cardiovascular system medications (82.4%)
- Cancer: Cardiovascular system medications (67.2%)
- Arthritis: Cardiovascular system medications (62.4%)
- COPD: Cardiovascular system medications (58.8%)
- Asthma: Respiratory system medications (54.9%)
- Back problems: Antiinfectives for systemic use medications (46.9%)
- Mental and behavioural conditions: Nervous system medications (53.0%).
The prevalence of selected chronic conditions was more common with age[5]. Many people with chronic conditions had more than one at the same time (multimorbidity)[6]. Nine in ten (90.3%) people with multimorbidity were dispensed with at least one PBS medication. People with multimorbidity were more likely to be dispensed with a Cardiovascular system medication than those with one chronic condition (54.9% compared to 25.9%).
The proportion of people who were dispensed five or more medication types also varied by condition type, from 32.4% of people with mental and behavioural conditions to 76.6% of those with heart, stroke and vascular disease.
People with subsidised Safety Net medications
The PBS Safety Net scheme aims to protect patients needing a large number of medicines in one year from excessive out of pocket costs[1]. In 2022, the Safety Net threshold was $244.80 for Concession Card holders (equivalent to 36 full priced concessional scripts) and $1,457.10 (equivalent to 34 full priced general co-payments) for general patients. Once these monetary amounts are reached, Concession Card holders are provided subsequent PBS medications at no cost and general patients pay a concessional rate of up to $6.80 for PBS medications for the remainder of that calendar year[7].
Of the almost seven in ten (68.6%) people who were dispensed with at least one PBS medication in the 6 months before or after their NHS interview in 2022:
- One in seven (13.5%) people were dispensed with at least one PBS Safety Net subsidised medication
- Males and females were dispensed with similar rates of Safety Net subsidised medications (13.0% and 13.9%)
- Safety Net subsidised medications dispensed increased with age, from 1.6% of people aged 0–44 years to over half (55.1%) of people aged 75 years and over.
- Includes those who had at least one PBS medication dispensed in the 6 months before or after the NHS interview.
Almost one in ten (9.3%) people with one chronic condition were dispensed with a Safety Net subsidised medication at least once. This increased to over two in ten (22.3%) for people with two chronic conditions and reached over four in ten (42.2%) for those with three or more chronic conditions.
The highest proportions of people who were dispensed with at least one Safety Net subsidised medication were for people with:
- Kidney disease (52.6%)
- Diabetes (51.2%)
- Heart, stroke and vascular disease (49.6%).
- Includes those who had at least one PBS medication dispensed in the 6 months before or after the NHS interview.
People who were living in areas of most disadvantage were more likely to have been dispensed with at least one Safety Net subsidised medication than those living in areas of least disadvantage (22.3% compared to 8.0%). Similarly, people living with disability were more likely to have been dispensed with at least one Safety Net subsidised medication than those with no disability (25.0% compared to 5.8%).
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications
In addition to prescription medicines, certain types of medicines and other health care products are available from pharmacies, supermarkets or health food outlets without a prescription[8]. These are known as over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Pain relieving medications such as paracetamol and ibuprofen are examples of common OTC medications. These are typically recommended to treat mild health problems but can also play a role in the management of certain long-term health conditions. This analysis includes information about the use of selected OTC medications as reported by survey participants in the two weeks prior to their NHS interview. This includes whether participants had used either OTC paracetamol or ibuprofen in the previous two weeks and how often.
In the two weeks prior to interview, over two in five (43.5%) people used paracetamol and one in five (20.6%) used ibuprofen. Over one in two (51.1%) people had not used either paracetamol and ibuprofen and 15.2% used both. Females were more likely than males to have used paracetamol (49.4% compared to 37.6%) and ibuprofen (23.3% compared to 18.0%).
Ibuprofen use peaked at almost one in three (30.2%) people aged 35–44 years and then declined with age, with 7.3% of people aged 75 years and over reporting they had used ibuprofen. For all age groups, daily ibuprofen use remained relatively stable.
In contrast, paracetamol use was relatively stable for all adults. Daily paracetamol use increased with age, peaking at nearly one in four (24.6%) people aged 75 years and over.
Characteristics of people who used paracetamol
In 2022, people:
- Living in Inner and Outer Regional and Remote areas were more likely to use paracetamol than people living in Major Cities (47.5% compared to 42.1%)
- Living in areas of most disadvantage were more likely to use paracetamol daily than those living in areas of least disadvantage (8.3% compared to 4.2%)
- Living with disability were more likely to use paracetamol daily than those without a disability (14.6% compared to 2.6%).
Adults:
- Who experienced severe/very severe bodily pain in the last four weeks prior to interview were more likely to use paracetamol than those with very mild/mild bodily pain (72.4% compared to 46.8%)
- Who experienced high to very high levels of psychological distress were more likely to use paracetamol than those with low levels of psychological distress (62.2% compared to 42.9%).
Characteristics of people who used ibuprofen
In 2022, people:
- Living in areas of least disadvantage were more likely to use ibuprofen than those living in areas of most disadvantage (21.2% compared to 16.6%)
- Living with disability were more likely to use ibuprofen than those without a disability (25.7% compared to 18.4%).
Adults:
- Who experienced severe/very severe bodily pain in the last four weeks prior to interview were more likely to use ibuprofen than those with very mild/mild bodily pain (35.6% compared to 22.6%)
- Who experienced high to very high psychological distress levels were more likely to use ibuprofen than those with low psychological distress (31.5% compared to 18.9%).
Over-the-counter medication use for people with chronic conditions
People with one or more chronic conditions were more likely to have used paracetamol in the two weeks prior to interview than people with no chronic condition (52.6% compared to 34.5%). Similarly, people with one or more chronic conditions were more likely to have used ibuprofen in the last two weeks prior to interview than people with no chronic condition (25.3% compared to 16.1%).
Paracetamol use, whether daily or in the last two weeks, increased with the number of chronic conditions. For example, paracetamol use in the last two weeks increased from 46.8% for people with one chronic condition to 67.5% for people with three or more. Similarly, daily paracetamol use increased from 5.3% for people with one chronic condition to 28.5% for people with three or more.
In contrast, ibuprofen use in the two weeks prior to interview was similar for people with one, two, and three or more chronic conditions (24.5%, 27.1% and 24.8%). Daily ibuprofen use increased slightly with the number of chronic conditions, from 1.5% for people with one chronic condition to 4.7% for people with three or more.
- Includes daily use.
Paracetamol use in the two weeks prior to interview was generally similar between chronic conditions; however, there was more variation in daily paracetamol use across selected chronic conditions:
- Cancer – 26.6%
- Heart, stroke and vascular disease – 25.6%
- Arthritis – 24.1%
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – 22.8%
- Osteoporosis – 21.4%
- Kidney disease – 21.0%
- Diabetes – 18.8%
- Back problems – 15.9%
- Asthma – 11.6%
- Mental and behavioural conditions – 10.0%.
Data downloads
See the National Health Survey 2022 data downloads for the full suite of available data. Data relating to Health conditions prevalence can be found in tables:
- TABLE 20 and 21 Type of PBS medications dispensed
- TABLE 22 and 23 Number of PBS medication types dispensed
- TABLE 24 and 25 PBS Safety Net medications dispensed
- TABLE 26 and 27 Over the counter medications.
Footnotes
- Australian Parliament House, ‘The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme: a quick guide’, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2122/Quick_Guides/ThePharmaceuticalBenefitsScheme; accessed 05/04/2024.
- World Health Organisation, ‘Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification: Structure’,https://www.who.int/tools/atc-ddd-toolkit/atc-classification; accessed 05/04/2024.
- World Health Organization, ‘Medication safety in polypharmacy: technical report’, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-UHC-SDS-2019.11; accessed 05/04/2024.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Regional population by age and sex’, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population-age-and-sex/2022; accessed 05/04/2024.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Health conditions prevalence’, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/health-conditions-prevalence/2022; accessed 05/04/2024.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Chronic conditions and multimorbidity’, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/chronic-conditions-and-multimorbidity; accessed 05/04/2024.
- Department of Health and Aged Care, ‘Improving access to medicines – Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Safety Net’, budget-2022-23-pharmaceutical-benefits-scheme-safety-net.pdf (health.gov.au); accessed 05/04/2024.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 'Medicines in the health system', https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/medicines/medicines-in-the-health-system; accessed 25/03/2024.
Methodology
Scope
Includes:
- all usual residents in Australia aged 0+ years living in private dwellings.
- urban and rural areas in all states and territories, excluding very remote parts of Australia and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.
Geography
The data available includes estimates for:
- Australia
- States and territories
Source
The National Health Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Medications data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Collection method
Face-to-face interview with an Australian Bureau of Statistics Interviewer.
Linkage to the Person Level Integrated Data Asset.
Concepts, sources and methods
Health conditions are presented using a classification which is based on the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).