A sample of non-institutionalized senior citizens in the City of Cortland, New York, were interviewed as to their drug-related practices and opinions about selected drug issues. The data revealed that the elderly tended to ascribe to a number of potentially damaging beliefs about drug risks and tended to minimize the hazards of drug interactions. There appeared to be positive opinions toward o-t-c drugs and a general belief that symptomatic treatment was acceptable behavior. The frequency of drug usage was high among senior citizens in the group yet they tended to report that their age group used less drugs than young adults, even though the literature does not support such a claim.
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