Eighty percent of adults ages 50 to 80 would be open to stopping one or more of the prescription medicines they’ve been taking for more than a year if a healthcare provider said it was possible. In fact, 26% said they have done so in the past two years, according to a recent University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging.

“Deprescribing, which can include prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, and dietary supplements, should be based on dialogue between patients and providers, and sometimes family members,” says Sarah Vordenberg, PharmD, MPH, who worked on the poll.

The poll has implications for many older adults, because it found that 82% of respondents take at least one prescription medicine regularly; of those, 28% said they believe they take too many medicines.

More than half of respondents take three or more prescription medications; 11% regularly take three or more over-the-counter medicines, and 38% take three or more vitamins, minerals or supplements.

People with a health problem or disability that limits their usual activities, and those who said they were in fair or poor physical or mental health, were also nearly twice as likely overall to say they had stopped taking a medication in the past two years, compared to those in better health.

More than a third (38%) of those taking five or more prescription medications  said they had stopped taking a medication, compared with 23% of those taking three to four prescription medications and 17% of those taking one to two prescription medications. 

The poll suggests more people should take advantage of a little-known benefit offered by Medicare and other insurance: a comprehensive medication review by a pharmacist or other provider.

More than 90% of older adults who take at least one prescription medicine expect their provider to review their list of medicines at least annually, but research has shown this often doesn’t happen. Yet such reviews can often be billed to insurance by clinics and pharmacies as a separate patient encounter.

A previous report from the National Poll on Healthy Aging found that 24% of adults age 50 to 80 who take two or more prescription drugs, and 25% of those who have Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, had had a comprehensive medication review.

To download the full report, Views on Medication Deprescribing among Adults Age 50-80, click here