Assessing Medication Problems in those ≥ 65 Using the STOPP and START Criteria

Title:Assessing Medication Problems in those ≥ 65 Using the STOPP and START Criteria

Volume: 9 Issue: 2

Author(s): Roger E. Thomas

Affiliation:

Keywords: STOPP and START criteria, polypharmacy, individuals ≥ 65, patients in the community, hospitals and nursing homes, drug-related, drug safety, side effects, adverse reactions

Abstract: Background: Polypharmacy is a key problem for those ≥65.

Objective: To summarise for individuals ≥65 the rates of Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIMs) identified by application of STOPP, and Potential Prescribing Omissions (PPOs) by START criteria.

Methods: Search: Databases were searched 1980 to 1 December 2015. For Medline the search yielded 3,691 systematic reviews or meta-analyses and 301 when limited to 65 years and over. STOPP.mp yielded 180 citations, START.mp 109,132 and 105 when limited to both. For Embase the search yielded 24,681 systematic reviews or meta-analyses, and 881 when limited to 65+ years. STOPP.mp yielded 427 citations and START.mp 147,322, and 327 when limited to both.

Results: Search: identified 28 studies with data and plus a systematic review using STOPP/START criteria. For community dwelling-individuals for national outpatient databases (n=1,528,785) PIMs weighted average was 31%, PPOs 47%. For small community studies (n=2,228) PIMs weighted average was 26%, PPOs 24%. For hospitalised patients (n=4,237) PIMs weighted average was 47%, PPOs 50%. For nursing home patients PIMs weighted average (n=1,539 patients) was 59%, PPOs (n=463 residents) 49%. Principal PIMs were benzodiazepines, proton pump inhibitors, NSAIDs, aspirin, and duplicate medications. Principal PPOs were omissions of medications for cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, osteoporosis, diabetes and hyperlipidemia.

Conclusions: Rates of PIMs and PPOs are high. Criteria are currently based on expert consensus. Next steps are to link criteria to the best internationally-accepted evidence-based systematic reviews/guidelines and conduct RCTs to test whether application of the criteria leads to lower rates of medication errors and hospital admissions.

Cite this article as:

E. Thomas Roger, Assessing Medication Problems in those ≥ 65 Using the STOPP and START Criteria, Current Aging Science 2016; 9 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874609809999160217101716