Abstract
Objectives: Geriatric population is increasing globally and they suffer from multiple disorders necessitating administration of number of drugs. The objective of the present study was to examine the prescribing pattern in geriatric patients in a medical OPD.
 Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in medical OPD of Government Medical College, Jammu, over a period of a month after approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee. Patients above 65 years of age who gave consent were included in the study. The prescriptions were analyzed for demographic profile (age and gender), average number of drugs per prescription, drugs by generic or brand names, fixed drug combinations (FDCs), and percentage of potentially inappropriate as per Beers criteria.
 Results: A total of 200 patients were included comprised 64% of males and 36% of females. The most of patients were in the age group of 65–69 years (37.5%). A total of 200 prescriptions contained 1128 drugs amounting to average 5.64 number of drugs per prescription. Maximum prescriptions had 1–5 drugs (61%) followed by 6–10 drugs (38.5%). Majority of drugs were prescribed by brand name (93.26%) and only 6.73% of drugs were prescribed by generic name. About 10.46% FDCs were prescribed. Maximum drugs prescribed were from respiratory system (20.3.1%), followed by GIT (18.4%), antimicrobials (17.2%), cardiovascular (10.99%), NSAIDs (9.3%), and vitamins (8.4%). Forty-one drugs (20.5%) in patients were potentially in appropriate drugs based Beers criteria and belonged mostly to anticholinergic, antihistaminic, sedatives, NSAIDs, and H2 blockers.
 Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication are still present in OPD prescription of geriatric population. Generic prescribing still lacks. Application of Beers criteria and increasing awareness about polypharmacy should be encouraged.
Highlights
Treatment of elderly patients constituting above 65 years of age is always a challenge to the attending physician
Maximum drugs prescribed were from respiratory system (20.31%), followed by gastrointestinal tract including PPI (GIT) (18.4%), antimicrobials (17.2%), cardiovascular (10.99%), NSAIDs (9.3%), vitamins (8.4%), and endocrine system (7.9%) (Table 4)
The current study has shown that polypharmacy in medical OPD geriatric population is prevalent and 34% received six or more medications
Summary
Treatment of elderly patients constituting above 65 years of age is always a challenge to the attending physician. Due to advances made in medical field coupled with improvement in socioeconomic status, there is increase in life expectancy. The world population is growing and so is the elderly aged group. The world’s elderly population which was 550 million in 1996 is expected to approach 1.2 billion by the year 2025 [1]. It much evident in developed countries, India is no exception. Projected life expectancy in India by 2025 is 69.8 years for males and 72.3 years for females
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