A study has found that older adults taking five or more prescription medicines had a higher risk of death than those taking fewer drugs. The finding highlights concerns about “polypharmacy”, a term used for taking at least five daily prescriptions, and the need to regularly review medication use in later life.

Researchers led by Dr Alexander Chaitoff at the University of Michigan School of Medicine analysed national survey data from 7,828 adults. The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, linked polypharmacy with a 38% higher mortality risk, though the reported association does not by itself prove that taking multiple medicines caused the deaths.