Background: With the rise in proportion of elderly people in India, various problems related to their health are also on the rise. An estimated 50% elderly people in India suffer from at least one chronic disease that requires lifelong medication.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use among elderly people in the rural field practice area of a medical college in Karnataka, India.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in rural field practice area of a medical college in Karnataka, India. By house-to-house visit, all these individuals were interviewed after obtaining written and informed consent. Information on polypharmacy and PIM use was obtained using the Beers criteria 2012. Data were entered and analyzed using Epi info, version 4.0.
Results: Mean (±SD) number of medication use was 2.57 (±1.47). Prevalence of polypharmacy was 73.93% (minor = 81.15%, major = 18.85%). About 17.5% were taking PIMs according to Beers criteria.
Conclusion: Prevalence of polypharmacy in our study was comparatively less to previous similar hospital-based studies. Minor polypharmacy was more prevalent. A significant number of elderly people were using PIMs according to Beers criteria.
Key words: Polypharmacy, Beers criteria, elderly people, rural area
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