Purpose: This study was done to analyze the status of drug use in elderly people in KyongBuk province. The results of the study will provide basic information for the development of nursing interventions to promote proper drug use. Method: The study participants were 244 people over the age of 65. The instrument used was a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, chi-test and Spearrnan correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. Results: The rate of drug use was 96.7%, with a mean of 3.37 drugs per person: 66.3% were taking both prescription and non-prescription drugs, 20.6%, prescription drugs only, and 9.9%, non-prescription drugs only. The rate of drug misuse was 82.3%. Both groups usmg prescription drugs and those usmg non-prescription drugs showed higher rates in almost all types of drug misuse activity compared to the group who only used prescription drugs. There was a positive correlation between the rate of drug misuse and the total number of drug used (p=0.001). The correlation rate between the rate of drug misuse and the number of non-prescription drug use was p=0.000. Conclusion: This study suggests that medical professionals should put more effort into educating patients about the about the proper use of prescription drugs and develop nursing interventions to reduce drug misuse in the community.