Table 1

Demographic characteristics of the prescription data

CharacteristicsN (%) Total=529 990
US geographical regions*
 Midwest214 451 (40.5)
 Northeast126 751 (23.9)
 South109 441 (20.6)
 West74 082 (14.0)
 Outside of the USA236 (0.0)
Top 5 drug classes
 Agents acting on the renin–angiotensin system77 315 (14.5)
 Lipid-modifying agents73 509 (13.9)
 Drugs used in diabetes56 179 (10.6)
 Psychoanaleptics49 382 (9.1)
 Drugs for obstructive airway diseases31 475 (5.9)
Median (1st–3rd quartile) no of words in directions from e-prescriptions8 (6–10)
Median (1st–3rd quartile) no of words in directions from prescription labels8 (7–9)
No of unique prescription directions before transcription123 746
No of unique prescription directions after transcription88 249
  • *5029 (0.9%) of national provider identifier numbers could not be matched using the November 2018 United States National Plan and Provider Enumeration System national provider identifier download files.