Inappropriate prescribing in elderly outpatients taking multiple medications. Are the STOPP criteria useful?

Objective: To assess potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in elderly outpatients taking multiple medications. Methods: Invoicing data of the prescriptions and electronic medical records were used to apply the STOPP (screening tool of older people’s prescriptions) criteria. Results: Three out of 4 patients included in the study received PIMs. The most common criteria found were: duplicate drug class prescriptions (n = 58 (17.4%)), long-term long-acting benzodiazepines (n = 54 (16.2%)), and acetylsalicylic acid with no history of coronary, cerebral, or peripheral vascular symptoms or occlusive event (n = 32 (9.6%)). Conclusion: Our results highlight the relevance of the systematic review of the pharmacological treatments in these patients.