ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the prescription of potentially inappropriate medications [PIM], using the Screening Tool of Older Persons' potentially inappropriate Prescriptions [STOPP] and Beers criteria, to disabled older people
Subjects and Methods: One hundred and forty-one patients aged >/= 65 years with Barthel scale scores
Results: Of the 141 patients, 94 [66.7%] and 94 [66.7%] had at least one PIM identified by the STOPP and Beers criteria, respectively. In multivariate analysis, PIM identified by the Beers criteria were associated with the prescription of multiple medications [p = 0.013] and the presence of psychiatric diseases [p < 0.001], whereas PIM identified by the STOPP criteria were only associated with the prescription of multiple medications [p = 0.008]. The optimal cutoff for the number of medications prescribed for predicting PIM by using the STOPP or Beers criteria was 6. After adjustment for covariates, patients prescribed >/= 6 medications had a significantly higher risk of PIM, identified using the STOPP or Beers criteria, compared to patients prescribed <6 medications [both p < 0.05]
Conclusion: This study revealed a high frequency of PIM in disabled older patients with chronic diseases, particularly those prescribed >/= 6 medications