IDENTIFYING POLYPHARMACY THROUGH PATIENT CONSULATION W GERIATRICS AT TERITARY CARE HOSPITAL.

Background:-The rapidly growing numbers and proportion of elderly meantthat more people will be entering a period of life where the risk of developing certain chronic and debilitating diseases is significantly higher.People over the age 6pyears are more likely to be on medication than younger people Objective:-To determine the common drugs involved in Polypharmacy and resolve potentially inappropriate medications in geriatrics. Materials & Methods:-A prospective observation and non invasive study was carried out in the departments of general medicine, orthopedics,general surgery at teritory care hospital for duration of 6 months Result:-A total of 105 cases of Polypharmacy were recorded from a total population of 10,000 Patients,among which males 71cases(35%),females 34cases(15%),maximum Patients belong to age group of 60-70age i.e 56cases,71-80age were 20 cases,more than 80age was 19 cases.Most of the cases collected from general medicines i.e 56cases,general surgery i.e 18cases,orthopedics Conclusion:-Polypharmacy and inappropriate drug use is prevalent among the elderly. In our study, Polypharmacy is involved more in cardiovascular diseases and surgery. Inappropriate drugs like aspirin, nifidipine, spironolactone, dicoflenacaresignificant. So, while prescribing drugs to elderly Beer?s criteria and STOPP/START criteria should be considered as a standard guideline.