Abstract
Background Most elderly patients suffer from multiple diseases and are on multiple drugs for treatment. Polypharmacy in the elderly, physiological changes with old age, changes in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effects of many drugs, and newer drug prescription trends for diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease make drug prescribing in the elderly more difficult. There are many chances of drug-drug interactions with easily available over-the-counter (OTC) medications. To prevent the irrational use of drugs in the elderly, there is a need for prescription analysis studies. Prescription analysis studies will help in finding errors in prescriptions and also change trends in the use of medication among the elderly. Methodology This cross-sectional observation study was conducted on 234 elderly patients to investigate medicine use patterns among the geriatric patients attending the Medicine Outpatient Department in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Drug data were collected from the study participants after obtaining written informed consent and analysed, including demographic details, personal history, disease history, and details of the drug, including the generic name of the drug, dose and duration of therapy, and prescription pattern. The proportions of drugs prescribed for different diseases were analysed. Also, the drugs were analysed as per their pharmacological profiles. Results and interpretation A total of 1298 drug prescriptions were analysed in this study. Of the total participants, 60.26% were male, 35% were unemployed, 53% were retired, and 27% were taking OTC herbal medications. Most of the patients included in this study were suffering from diabetes, hypertension, and other comorbidities. Telmisartan and telmisartan in combination with other drugs were the most commonly encountered prescription drugs, i.e., 24% among the cardiovascular drugs. Aspirin and statins alone or in combination were the most commonly encountered prescriptions, i.e., 27.88% of the drugs used for prophylaxis of cardiovascular diseases. Conclusion This study showed a prescription pattern for the elderly and highlighted precautions to be taken with some of the prescribed drugs. As polypharmacy is observed with elderly prescriptions, possible drug interactions must be taken into account. Regular prescription analysis of drugs prescribed to the elderly will help in the appropriate and rational use of drugs.