Turkish Journal of
GERIATRICS

Since it is the physician who chooses and prescribes the best drug among the alternatives following a thorough evaluation of the patient's clinical condition, the most important component of rational drug use is the physician's responsibility and prescrining habits. Hence, one of the basic elements which have to be taken into consideration by the physician during the rational pharmacotherapy decision making process is to diagnose the disease correctly. The process of diagnosis, rational prescribing, choice of the best drug/treatment and beginning the treatment is similar to any kind of problem solving routine. This process may be described briefly as follows: to define the problem (make a diagnosis); to define the hypothesis (choose the best drug/treatment among the alternatives according to the criteria of efficacy, safety, sutability and cost); to test the hypothesis by an experiment (start the treatment); and monitor the outcome and confirm if required. The success of this process, however, depends on informing the patients about his/her diagnosis and treatment adequately. Keywords : Rational Drug Use, Elderly, Geriatrics