ABSTRACT
The Dunedin Program began in July 1975 to provide health screening to ambulatory elderly residents of Dunedin, Florida on an annual basis. The program was designed to evaluate participants annually for previously undetected medical disorders and to refer these persons to private physicians for follow-up care. Dunedin Program personnel include a physician director with specialty training in internal medicine, a registered nurse, and a technician. Health questionnaire, laboratory, and electrocardiographic information has been collected since the program’s inception in 1975. Information collected in the Dunedin Program has been used to study a wide range of questions relating to the aging process. Initially, the information was used to study overall drug use patterns in the elderly and their specific therapeutic categories of drugs. Drug usage was studied in Dunedin participants who completed at least one visit to the program during the period July 1983 to June 1985.
