Medication Use by Runners in Self-Care Situations

The benefits of running for cardiovascular health have long been established, but no relationship between runners/non-runners and their usage of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications has been established. A comprehensive survey was sent out via Facebook, Inc., to self-identified runners to assess runners’ first response to 5 common self-care situations. The results were compared to the national average of the U.S. population who take prescription and OTC medications. What was also assessed was the relationship between average weekly miles run and the likelihood to choose OTC medications. 714 runners, residing predominately in the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area, completed the survey and their results were drastically different than the national average use for prescription and OTC medication in the general (non-runners) population. Approximately 30% of the runners in this study are on daily prescription medications versus a national average of 70% of the U.S. population. In each of the 5 common self-care situations, less than 50% of runners chose an OTC medication as their first option for self-care vs. the national average of 80%. Results of the study also showed that runners with a weekly mile average of 30 miles or more were less likely to choose an OTC option for self-care than runners with a weekly average of 15 miles or less. Overall, results of this survey suggest that runners are less likely to take medications and may be healthier than the average U.S. citizen overall.