Polypharmacy and older people.

Polypharmacy is defined as the practice of prescribing four or more medications to the same person (Department of Health, 2001). This often occurs with older people who have concurrent disease processes, each needing a specific treatment regime (Box 1). Older people receive more prescriptions per head than any other group. The National Service Framework for Older People (DoH, 2001) shows that 5-17 per cent of hospital admissions are caused by adverse reactions to medicines. It also indicates that 6-17 per cent of older patients in hospital experience adverse drug reactions.