[General medication in elderly people]. / Gesamtmedikation bei alten Menschen.

A total of 460 elderly people (252 residents of home for aged, 137 patients of geriatric clinic and 71 old persons living in one-man households) were analysed for a general and long-term medication. They were ranged as follows: 8.5% without medication, 6.5% received 1 drug, 85% had 2-10 different drugs daily. The consumption of 3-4 drugs daily was the most frequent. Both male and female subjects showed no difference in the average number of drugs prescribed per person and day. It was significantly higher in advanced than in early old age persons, in those with the decreased self-sufficiency, an in the institutionalized geriatric population.