Misuse of Prescription or OTC Drugs Puts Iowa Seniors at Risk
People age 65 and older comprise less than 13 percent of our U.S. population, yet they take more prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines than any other age group. Today, several factors put elderly populations especially at risk for misusing or becoming addicted to prescribed medications:

• Age-related changes influence the way in which their bodies metabolize and respond to prescription drugs.
• Older adults may have undiagnosed psychiatric and medical illnesses.
• Older adults are more likely to be taking several medications in complex drug regimens, increasing the risk of drug interactions or errors in dosing. Older adults may also have more difficulty reading and following prescription medication instructions.

While most older adults don’t misuse their prescription medications intentionally, misuse does occur—sometimes with serious adverse consequences.

As an older adult or a caregiver of an adult, you now have the means to help prevent the misuse of prescription drugs. When you use the resources on this Web site to help you, it’s easy to do. And it may save you or another older adult from the dangers of improperly using the medicines we count on to safeguard our health.

So take a dose of truth—become familiar with the problem of prescription drug misuse. Together, we can all make prescription drug use safer for older adults in Iowa.