Proportion of 75 Years and Over Who Are Taking More Than 5 Medications Concurrently

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Primary Care
Country
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Publishing Organisation
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): Healthcare Quality and Outcomes (HCQO) indicators - Primary Care - Prescribing Indicators
Type of Quality Indicator
Outcome
IOM Quality Dimension
Safety
Domain
Medications and Medication Management

Defining Attributes

Definition

Proportion of 75 years and over who are taking more than 5 medications concurrently (>90 days excluding dermatological and antibiotics)

Numerator

Number of individuals ≥ 75 years of age as on 1 January in database with ≥ 5 chronically used medications with different ATC codes at the fourth level (e.g., A10BA) during the reference year. This means that a different medication should only be counted if it is not within the same ATC codes at the fourth level. Medication here refers to subgroups of chemicals classified by the World Health Organisation at the fourth level of the ATC classification system, 2017 version.

Denominator

Number of individuals ≥ 75 years of age at 1 January in database

Exclusions

Dermatologicals for topical usage are excluded of the count because these medications usually do not interact with other (systemic) medications. Antibiotics (i.e., ATC codes "J01") are also excluded because they are almost exclusively prescribed for acute infections

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
Stratifications

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

OECD

Frequency of Data Collection
Annually
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
365
Reporting Methods

Reported by country on OECD. Stat stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?QueryId=51885

Reporting Frequency
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025