Sociodemographic variation in experiences with medication shortages among US adults.

Objective: To investigate sociodemographic factors associated with prescribed and over-the-counter medication shortage experiences. Methods: We analyzed repeated cross-sectional data from the 2023 US Census Household Pulse Survey, a nationwide survey of US adults. Outcomes were based on the following question: "In the past month, have you or a member of your household been directly affected by the following?" We created binary indicators based on the following response options: (1) "Shortage of prescription medications, which includes any medicine required or provided by a healthcare provider, pharmacist, or hospital" and (2) "Shortage of over-the-counter medications, encompassing any medication available without a prescription." Sociodemographic factors included age, gender identity, race/ethnicity, marital status, educational attainment, household income, number of children, employment status, health insurance coverage, at risk for depression/anxiety, disability status, and region. Weighted multivariable models accounted for the complex survey design and estimated adjusted odds ratios with 95 % confidence intervals. Results: We found that more experiences with prescribed and over-the-counter medication shortages were associated with middle age, transgender/other gender identity, non-Hispanic Other race/ethnicity, higher educational attainment, having at least one child, at risk for depression or anxiety, and being disabled. In contrast, fewer experiences with prescribed and over-the-counter medication shortages were associated with higher household income. Conclusions: Sociodemographic variation exist in experiences with medication shortages among US adults. These findings underscore the need to bolster the pharmaceutical supply chain to mitigate inequities in medication access.