§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will estimate the percentage of the over 60 years population who are regularly taking(a) one prescription drug, (b) two to four drugs, (c) five to six drugs, (d) seven to eight drugs and (e) nine or more drugs each week; [38362]
(2) if he will estimate the percentage of the over 60 years population who are found on admission to hospital to be regularly taking (a) one prescription drug, (b) two to four drugs, (c) five to six drugs, (d) seven to eight drugs and (e) nine or more drugs each week. [38361]
§ Mr. MilburnInformation on patients' medication handed in on admission to hospital is not available. There is no readily available information on the number of372W prescription drugs people take regularly. The available information from the health survey for England in 1996 is given in the table.
Number of prescribed medicines by age percentage Age 65–74 Age 75 and over One 20 17 Two 17 18 Three 14 16 Four or more 22 31