International Journal of Health Sciences and Research Vol.10; Issue: 6; June 2020 Website: www.ijhsr.org Original Research Article ISSN: 2249-9571 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research (www.ijhsr.org) 309 Vol.10; Issue: 6; June 2020 Evaluation of Appropriateness in Prescription of Geriatric Population in Residents of Old Age Homes in District Headquarters Ashitha Ephrem, Liya George, Satish S, Shabaraya AR Department of Pharmacy Practice, Srinivas College of Pharmacy, Valachil, Mangalore Corresponding Author: Ashitha Ephrem ABSTRACT Elderly population use many drugs and physiological changes make them more vulnerable to effects. Correct drug prescribing in the elderly is a laborious task; different tools to assess appropriateness of prescription in geriatric include Beer’s criteria, STOPP criteria and START criteria. Objective of the study was to evaluate and assess polypharmacy and appropriateness in prescription. A cross sectional study was carried out for a period of 6 months to assess polypharmacy and medication appropriateness in the residents of old age homes. Patients of both sex above 60 years of age, with atleast one chronic illness were included. Polypharmacy was present in 57% prescriptions, 46% patients were on at least one PIM as per Beers criteria, and total of 24 prescriptions had 28 inappropriate medications as per STOPP criteria. According to START criteria 31 prescribing omissions was found from 27 inappropriate prescriptions. Polypharmacy and PIM are highly prevalent in geriatric population, which has a major health care outcome. Standard criteria should be considered before prescribing the medications in geriatric population. In the present study an effort has been made to evaluate prescription for its inappropriateness by using BEERs, STOPP, and START criteria, which should be strictly implemented in routine clinical practice. Keywords: Geriatrics, Polypharmacy, Beers criteria, STOPP criteria, START criteria. INTRODUCTION World Health Organization evaluated that in every nine people there is one elderly individual that is of age more than 60 years. According to population census conducted on 2011 there are nearly 104 million elderly persons (aged 60 years or above) in India. Worldwide, the proportion of individuals over the age of 65 continues to grow more rapidly than other age groups who are more prone to illnesses. Certain types of drugs or drug classes have a high risk of very serious adverse reactions. Geriatric patient’s process drugs differently when compared to a normal individual, therefore considered certain drug classes are considered potentially inappropriate for this age group. [1] Polypharmacy in elderly is becoming a considerable problem because of greater health-care costs, risk of adverse drug events, drug-drug interactions, medication noncompliance, decreased functional activity, reduced functional capacity, and can increase the prevalence of drug associated morbidity and mortality. [4] Inappropriate prescribing is additionally a challenge in elderly people. Appropriate prescribing is the outcome of the decision-making process that maximizes net individual health gains within the society's available resources. There are different tools to assess appropriateness of prescription in geriatric include Beer’s criteria, Screening Tool Of Older Persons Prescriptions (STOPP)