Potentially inappropriate prescribing in older primary care patients

• Published in: PloS one 2014-04, Vol.9 (4), p.e95536
• Main Authors: Vezmar Kovačević, Sandra, Simišić, Mika, Stojkov Rudinski, Svetlana, Ćulafić, Milica, Vučićević, Katarina, Prostran, Milica, Miljković, Branislava
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Aged; Aged patients; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Angina; Angina pectoris; Aspirin; Benzodiazepines; Biocompatibility; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomedical materials; Care and treatment; Cerebral infarction; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Communities; Criteria; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes mellitus; Drug Prescriptions; Drug stores; Drugs; Family physicians; Female; Geriatrics; Gout; Health care; Humans; Hypertension; Inappropriate Prescribing - statistics & numerical data; Lung diseases; Male; Medical personnel; Medicine and Health Sciences; Myocardial infarction; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Obstructive lung disease; Older people; Osteoporosis; Pain; Patients; Physical Sciences; Physicians; Population; Powder injection molding; Practice Patterns, Physicians; Prescription drugs; Prescription writing; Primary care; Primary Health Care; Prospective Studies; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk; Screening; Statistical analysis; Studies; Surveys; Theophylline
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095536

The aim of the study was to determine the rate of Potentially Inappropriate Medicines (PIM) and Potential Prescription Omissions (PPO) according to Screening Tool of Older Person's potentially inappropriate Prescriptions/Screening Tool to Alert doctors to the Right Treatment (STOPP/START) criteria. A cross-sectional survey in community pharmacy. A prospective cross-sectional study was performed, during March-May 2012, in five community pharmacies. Patients aged ≥65 years, who collected one or more prescribed medications, were asked to participate in the study, and an interview was scheduled. Patients were asked to provide their complete medical and biochemical record from their general practitioner. 509 patients, mean age 74.8±6.5 years, 57.4% female, participated in the study. 164 PIM were identified in 139 patients (27.3%). The most common were: long-term use of long-acting benzodiazepines (20.7%), use of non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID) in patients with moderate-severe hypertension (20.1%), use of theophylline as monotherapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 15.9%) and use of aspirin without appropriate indication (15.2%). Patients with more than four prescpritions had a higher risk for PIM (OR 2.85, 95% CI 1.97-4.14, p