Deprescribing is the planned and supervised process of dose reduction or stopping of medication that might be causing harm, or no longer be of benefit.

Prescription cascade is the process whereby the side effects of drugs are misdiagnosed as symptoms of another problem, resulting in further prescriptions and further side effects and unanticipated drug interactions, which itself may lead recursively to further misdiagnoses and further symptoms. This is a pharmacological example of a feedback loop. Such cascades can be reversed through deprescribing.

Polypharmacy is most commonly defined as the use of five or more medications daily by an individual.

The prevalence of polypharmacy is estimated to be between 10% and 90% depending on the definition used, the age group studied, and the geographic location.

Polypharmacy continues to grow in importance because of aging populations.

Many countries are experiencing a fast growth of the older population, 65 years and older. This growth is a result of the baby-boomer generation getting older and an increased life expectancy as a result of ongoing improvement in health care services worldwide.

About 21% of adults with intellectual disability are also exposed to polypharmacy.

There can be appropriate or inappropriate use of polypharmacy.