OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence and use of potentially inappropriate medication in elderly population according to the Beer’s criteria. METHODS: Data for the present study was obtained from National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) 2004. Patients of the age 65 and above were taken as sample. The use of potentially inappropriate medication was assessed by ranking the rate of usage of the 48 medications listed in the Beer’s criteria that should be avoided in elderly patients and assessing the medication usage across demographics like gender and age. Descriptive statistics were carried out using SPSS 17. RESULTS: The total number of cases of the age 65 and above using the potentially inappropriate medication was 2209. The top five most used drugs were ferrous sulfate ( 54.33%), Clonidine ( 7.8%), Lorazepam ( 6.9%), Biscodyl ( 6.9%) and Amioderone (5.7%). Other more used drugs were Nifedipine ( 2.6%), Amitryptyline ( 2.5%), Alprazolam (2.2%), Fluoxetine ( 1.6%), Naprozen ( 1.4%), Temezepam (1.1%), Diazepam ( 0.95%) and Nitrofurointoin (0.90%). The usage was more in female (73.7%) as compared to male (26.3%), it was more in the age group 85 to 100 ( 43.1%) compared to 65 to 74 ( 17.9%) and 75 to 84 ( 39.1%). There were 2208 (91.8%) elders using at least one of the 48 medications and 181( 8.1%) elders using two of these 48 medications. CONCLUSIONS: The use of potentially inappropriate medication listed under Beer’s criteria is highly prevalent among the elderly. There is more usage in females compared to males and more in the age group 85 to 100. Among the top 12 drugs used, accept for Ferrous sulfate and Clonidine which has the low Beer’s severity rating, all other drugs have a high Beer’s severity rating and causes Adverse Drug Events.