OBJECTIVES: To estimate the inappropriate medication use among the elderly hospitalized patients in Punjab, Pakistan. METHODS: A descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2015 to March 2016 in six tertiary-care hospitals of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The population under study was patients aged ≥60 years and being hospitalized in the selected tertiary-care hospitals. In this study, data was collected from 600 elderly patients (100 patients per hospital). All medicines prescribed in each in-patient chart were noted on a pre-designed performa and were evaluated according to the 2015 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: In 600 hospitalized in-patient (male 52.7% and female 47.3%) charts, 3,179 medicines were prescribed. The most commonly prescribed drug classes were: alimentary tract and metabolism 80%, nervous system 66.3%, anti-infectives for systemic use 62.2% and cardiovascular system 48.3%. The most commonly prescribed inappropriate medications were: omeprazole 51.3%, metoclopramide 14.3%, aspirin 9%, diphenhydramine 7.7%, ibuprofen 4%, famotidine 3.3% and chlorpheniramine 1.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The rational use of medicines is of utmost importance, most particularly in the elderly population. It is highly recommended that more consideration should be given to the elderly patients.