# Effect of Physical Activity on Drug Expenditures for the Physical and Mental Health of Primary Care Users

## TL;DR

This study shows that being physically active can reduce public spending on medications, including mental health drugs, among primary care users.

## Contribution

The study quantifies how habitual physical activity reduces medication expenditures, particularly for psychotropics, in primary healthcare users.

## Key findings

- Physically active individuals spent USD 34.83 less on all medications compared to less active individuals.
- Active individuals spent USD 4.34 less on psychotropic drugs compared to less active individuals.

## Abstract

Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue?
Insufficient physical activity is associated with higher medication use and expenditures in primary health care.Psychotropic drug use represents a substantial share of public spending on mental health within the Unified Health System (SUS).

Insufficient physical activity is associated with higher medication use and expenditures in primary health care.

Psychotropic drug use represents a substantial share of public spending on mental health within the Unified Health System (SUS).

Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health?
Physically active primary care users showed lower public spending on overall medications and psychotropic drugs.Habitual physical activity emerged as a potentially protective behavior against increased pharmaceutical expenditures.

Physically active primary care users showed lower public spending on overall medications and psychotropic drugs.

Habitual physical activity emerged as a potentially protective behavior against increased pharmaceutical expenditures.

Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health?
Physical activity promotion strategies may contribute to reducing public spending on medications.Health policies that encourage active lifestyles may strengthen the sustainability of public health systems.

Physical activity promotion strategies may contribute to reducing public spending on medications.

Health policies that encourage active lifestyles may strengthen the sustainability of public health systems.

The primary and secondary objectives of this article are, respectively, to measure the effect of habitual physical activity on total medication expenditures and on expenditures specifically related to psychotropic drugs among primary healthcare users in a large Brazilian city. This cross-sectional study with a retrospective component was conducted using Propensity Score Matching (PSM). PSM is a robust and widely utilized method in studies evaluating the impact of public policies, particularly in observational data settings where randomization is infeasible. Medication expenditures and habitual physical activity data referring to the past 12 months were collected from 250 users of both sexes, aged over 40 years, across seven primary healthcare units. The average medication expenditure was USD 6.33 (95% CI: −206.64 to −31.02), and for psychotropics, USD 0.63 (95% CI: −217.75 to −11.87). The effect of physical activity on expenditures showed that more active individuals spent on average USD 34.83 less on all medications and USD 4.34 less on psychotropics compared to less active individuals. The findings of this study reinforce the importance of the physical activity as a health promotion strategy and as a means to reduce public health expenditures.