Influence of patient age on drug costs: An investigation to validate the prescribing unit

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Abstract
The costs of 15,226 drug items prescribed by 22 doctors in two UK health centres were analysed with respect to patients' age and gender. For patients aged 65 and over, average drug costs per practice patient at the health centres were, respectively, 3.6 and 5.2 times greater, and the number of prescribed items 3.3 and 5.6 times greater, than for patients under 65. When analysed in 10 patient-age bands, there was a gradual increase in the number of prescribed items and average costs from the age of 35 to 74 years at each centre. Items and costs decreased for patients aged 75 and over. The increase in costs was the consequence of a general increase in prescribed items throughout the major therapeutic groups. The findings suggest that the prescribing unit, which is a weighting factor for age currently employed to standardise populations when making interpractice comparisons of prescribing costs, may not be wholly appropriate and could conceal important differences in some patient groups, especially the middle age ranges of 35 to 64 years.

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