Figure 1. Percent of elderly Medicaid recipients hospitalized or using emergency room services annually, by NSAID use

24.1 percent of nonusers of NSAID were hospitalized; 33.1 percent of occasional users of NSAID were hospitalized; 25.4 percent of regular users of NSAID were hospitalized; 16.9 percent of nonusers of NSAID had emergency room visits; 27.4 percent of occasional users of NSAID had emergency room visits; and 19.3 percent of regular users of NSAID had emergency room visits.

Note: NSAID is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Occasional users used NSAIDs less than 75 percent of the time and regular users used them at least 75 percent of the time.

Source: Smalley WE, Griffin MR, Fought RL, et al. Excess costs from gastrointestinal dis-ease associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. J Gen Intern Med1996;11(8):461-9.

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