• Nabil Ahmed Badawy, Shokria Adely Labeeb, Mawaheb Falah Alsamdan, and Badria Faleh Alazemi.
• Department of Biomedical Science, College of Nursing, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, Al Shuwaikh, Kuwait, nabilbadawy45@hotmail.com.
• Med Princ Pract. 2020 Jan 1; 29 (2): 166-173.

ObjectivesTo estimate the prevalence of polypharmacy in community-dwelling, older Kuwaiti patients, describe the number and types of drugs used, and identify risk factors associated with polypharmacy.Subjects And MethodsThis was a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey in which we interviewed 500 community-dwelling Kuwaiti adults over 65 years of age. The data collection occurred during a 4-month period from March to July 2017.ResultsFifty-two percent (n = 260) of the patients were males, with a mean age of 71.73 ± 5.32 years. The prevalence of polypharmacy (5-8 drugs) and excessive polypharmacy (>8 drugs) was 58.4% (n = 292) and 10.2% (n = 51), respectively. The risk factors associated with an increased number of medicines used were: female gender (p = 0.019), a lower level of education (p = 0.003), a high number of hospital admissions (p = 0.000), clinics visited by the patient (p =0.000), and number of comorbidities (p = 0.000). The most commonly used medications (82.6% of the study population) were blood glucose-lowering agents, excluding insulin. Other commonly used medications were antihypertensive drugs and lipid-modifying agents.ConclusionA significant sector of the older Kuwaiti patient population has a high prevalence of polypharmacy and is thus exposed to its potential hazards. The current study highlights the need to revise the drug-dispensing policy among community-dwelling, older Kuwaiti people, as well as to initiate educational programs among healthcare practitioners concerning prescribing issues in older individuals.© 2019 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

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