AbstractObjectiveTo assess the level of and changes in the use of psychotropics among the home‐dwelling elderly in the 1990s.MethodsA descriptive analysis based on data from two cross‐sectional interview and health examination surveys of elderly persons aged 64 years or over conducted in Lieto, a typical semi‐rural Finnish municipality, in 1990–91 and 1998–99. National prescription data were utilized to compare the use of psychotropics in the late 1990s by all Finnish home‐dwelling elderly and the elderly in Lieto. In Lieto drug information was obtained from 1131 persons in 1990–91 and from 1197 in 1998–99, and the mean age of the informants was 73 years in both surveys. The brand names of the prescription drugs (both irregular and regular medication) taken by each interviewee during seven days prior to the interview were recorded and categorized by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system.ResultsEvery fourth person was taking at least one psychotropic drug in both surveys. Most users were on regular psychotropic medication. The use of hypnotics and antidepressants increased most during the study period. Polypharmacy and the use of psychotropics were most prevalent among those aged 85 years or over, with women predominating. Concomitant use of two or more psychotropics increased statistically significantly from 7% to 10% between the surveys. The young elderly, aged 64–71 years, used cyclic antidepressants equally commonly in both surveys. None of the young elderly used new atypical antipsychotics in 1998–99.ConclusionsPsychotropics tend to be overprescribed and overused among the elderly, a group at the highest risk of adverse drug reactions. The tendency of prescribing for the elderly is not going in a better direction. New‐generation psychotropics were not used. The need for long‐standing use of psychotropics should be assessed regularly. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.