Key result
Beers criteria identifies potentially inappropriate medications in ~55% of admitted older adults, exceeding STOPP criteria.
Why the study?
Multiple tools exist to assess medication appropriateness in older adults, but data determining and comparing potentially inappropriate medications via the Beers 2015 and STOPP v2 criteria in hospitalized older patients in Malaysia were needed.
Cross-Sectional (n=160)
No
Absolute Event Rate: 54.85% vs 33.08%
p-value: p=<0.001
The prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications is high among hospitalized older adults in Malaysia, peaking during hospitalization, highlighting the need for careful prescribing and medication review.
Higher PIM detection by Beers versus STOPP criteria signals prescribing risks in older Malaysians; leaves open which tool best informs deprescribing.
Introduction: Many tools have been developed to determine medication appropriateness in older persons including the 2015 American Geriatric Society (AGS) Beers criteria and the Screening Tool of Older People’s Prescriptions (STOPP) criteria. We aimed to determine and compare the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) based on the Beers criteria 2015 and the STOPP criteria v2 among older persons admitted to a general hospital in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study comprising of 160 patients aged 65 years old and above admitted to the general medical wards of a tertiary teaching hospital were recruited. Beers criteria 2015 and the STOPP criteria v2 were used to evaluate participants’ medication list on admission, during hospitalisation and on discharge for PIMs. Prevalence of PIMs which was calculated as the total number of patients with one or more PIMs over the total number of patients. Results: The prevalence of PIMs identified by Beers criteria 2015 on admission, during hospitalisation and on discharge were 54.85%, 64.40% and 48.80% respectively. The prevalence of PIM based on STOPP criteria v2 were 33.08%, 47.50% and 42.50% respectively. The most prevalent PIMs according to Beers criteria 2015 and STOPP criteria v2 were diuretics, tramadol, ticlopidine, proton pump inhibitor, benzodiazepines and antipsychotics. Conclusion: The prevalence of PIMs use is high among hospitalised older persons in Malaysia. While it is not possible to avoid all PIMs listed in the Beers and STOPP criteria, clinicians should exercise caution in prescribing drugs such as benzodiazepines, antipsychotics and proton pump inhibitors for older persons weighing the risk versus benefit of the drugs.
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Heng et al. (2022) conducted a cross-sectional in Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) (n=160). Beers criteria 2015 vs. STOPP criteria v2 was evaluated on Prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications on admission (p=<0.001). The prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications among hospitalized older persons was significantly higher when identified by the Beers criteria 2015 (54.85%) compared to the STOPP criteria v2 (33.08%) on admission.
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