Potentially inappropriate medicines in elderly hospitalised patients according to the EU(7)-PIM list, STOPP version 2 criteria and comprehensive protocol.
PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) by using the EU(7)-PIM list, STOPP (Screening Tool of Older Persons' potentially inappropriate Prescriptions) version 2 criteria and the new comprehensive protocol.


METHODS
This prospective study involved a sample of 276 consecutive elderly patients discharged from the university teaching hospital. Age, gender, diagnoses, medication history and medicines at discharge were recorded. The main outcome measure was the prevalence of PIMs according to each set of criteria: EU(7)-PIM list, STOPP version 2 criteria and comprehensive protocol.


RESULTS
The median patient age (range) was 74 (65-92) years. The median number of prescribed medications was 7 (1-17). STOPP identified 393 PIMs affecting 190 patients (69%), EU(7)-PIM list identified 330 PIMs in 184 patients (66.7%) whilst the comprehensive protocol identified 134 PIMs in 102 patients (37%). STOPP version 2 criteria identified significantly more PIMs per patient than the other two protocols (p < 0.001). Gender (p = 0.002), glomerular filtration rate (p = 0.039) and number of comorbidities (p = 0.001) were associated with the proportion of PIMs for the STOPP version 2 criteria only.


CONCLUSION
A very high PIM prevalence at discharge was reported suggesting the urgent need for actions to reduce them. STOPP version 2 criteria identified significantly more PIMs than the EU(7)-PIM list and the comprehensive protocol and was found as a more sensitive tool for PIM detection.
['Mucalo|Iva|I|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5566-9356', 'Hadžiabdić|Maja Ortner|MO|', 'Brajković|Andrea|A|', 'Lukić|Sonja|S|', 'Marić|Patricia|P|', 'Marinović|Ivana|I|', 'Bačić-Vrca|Vesna|V|']
D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D017523:Croatia D005260:Female D006760:Hospitalization D006785:Hospitals, University D006801:Humans D057970:Inappropriate Prescribing D008297:Male D000067561:Potentially Inappropriate Medication List
Potentially inappropriate medicines EU(7)-PIM list STOPP version 2 criteria Comprehensive protocol Polypharmacy