Table 1.

Prevalence of polypharmacy in community-dwelling older people

Age group	Mean or median number of medications	Polypharmacy (%)	Definition of Polypharmacy	Place	Reference
>64	3.1 (1990–1991)	19 (1990–1991)	5 or more	Finland	Linjakumpu et al 2002
	3.8 (1998–1999)	25 (1998–1999)
65–74	2.03	11	5 or more	UK	Chen et al 2001
>75	2.47	15
>64	4	53	4 or more including OTC	Australia	Byles et al 2003
65–74	2.2	24	6 or more	Canada	Anderson et al 1996
>75	3.8	37
>75	4.2	34	5 or more	Denmark	Barat et al 2000
>65	4.8 (female)	39	5 or more	Sweden	Jorgensen et al 2001
	3.8

Abbreviations: OTC, over the counter.