The prevalence of polypharmacy drugs prescription -among discharged patients in Outpatient Unit, Pharmacy Department, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), Kubang Kerian

Polypharmacy is defined as concomitant use of several drugs in excess of what is known to be therapeutically effective or appropriate (Stewart et. al, 1992). Most of the patients who experience polypharmacy will have an impact on health especially to elderly patient. Thus, any effort should be made to limit or reduce polypharmacy. The objective of this research is to study the prevalence of polypharmacy in discharged prescriptions at out­patients department in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). The method used to conduct this research is retrospective study. The data were collected from discharge prescription of patient at out-patient department. The data was documented from the discharged prescription using a well-designed data collection form. The data that were recorded includes socio-demographic characteristics, diagnosis of patient and the total number of drug taken by patient. The result shows that polypharmacy is not likely to happen in an elderly patient but it is used to happen in patient below than 65 years old. The number of diagnosis did not influence the number of drug taken by the patient. This shows multiple diagnosis did not contribute to polypharmacy in HUSM. The numbers of cases of polypharmacy in HUSM are reported low in discharged patient at out-patient unit.