The purpose of the present study was to investigate drug use in two cross-sectional elderly home-dwelling populations in southwestern Finland in the 1990s. The aims of the present study were:
to describe drug use and polypharmacy in the early and late 1990s
to describe and analyze sociodemographic, clinical, and physical functional items connected with polypharmacy
to describe psychotropic use in the early and late 1990s
to create a classification of drugs by their sedative properties and to describe the extent of sedative drug use
to describe and analyze sociodemographic, clinical, and physical functional items connected with sedative drug use