Abstract
Background
Psychotropic drugs are frequently used in the elderly population, but their inappropriate prescription can cause numerous adverse effects and interactions.
Objective
To evaluate the impact of a multidisciplinary intervention to detect and optimise inappropriate prescriptions of psychotropic drugs in patients aged over 75 years in a hospital setting.
Design, setting, subjects and methods
A prospective study which included every patient aged over 75 years admitted to the Consorcio Hospital General in Valencia, Spain, and who had been prescribed psychotropic drugs inappropriately, carried out over 1 year. The intervention was to detect inappropriate prescriptions of psychotropic drugs using the STOPP criteria, treatment optimisation by a team of psychiatrists, readjustment of the electronic prescription register, and communication to the primary care physician. The impact of the intervention was assessed by measuring the persistence of the changes made 3 months after discharge and by quarterly assessment of inappropriate prescriptions.
Results
Of 4571 admissions, 378 inappropriate prescriptions were detected in 346 patients. The drugs most frequently used were long half-life benzodiazepines (70%), which were substituted in 62% of the cases, withdrawn in 32%, and maintained in 6%. At 3 months follow-up, the changes had been maintained by the patients’ primary care physician in 67%. Evaluation of the prescriptions during the subsequent quarters of the year showed a significant decrease in the inappropriate prescriptions, especially benzodiazepines.
Conclusions
Coordinated intervention by pharmacologists and psychiatrists in hospital settings, and communication between these professionals and primary care teams, can reduce psychotropic drugs inappropriately prescribed to the elderly.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Molina T et al (2012) Prevalence of multiple medication and cardiovascular risk in patients over 65 years. Aten Primaria 44:216–222
Martín I (2011) Inappropriate prescribing in the elderly: clinical tools beyond the simple assessment. Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontol 46:117–118
Steinman MA et al (2006) Polypharmacy and prescribing quality in older people. J Am Geriatr Soc 54:1516–1523
Beers MH (1997) Explicit criteria for determining potentially inappropriate medication use by the elderly. An update. Arch Intern Med 157:1531–1536
Fick DM, Cooper JW, Wade WE, Waller JL, Maclean JR, Beers MH (2003) Updating the Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults: results of a US consensus panel of experts. Arch Intern Med 163:2716–2724
Naugler CT, Brymer C, Stolee P, Arcese ZA (2000) Development and validation of an improved prescribing for the elderly tool. Can J Clin Pharmacol 7:103–107
Hanlon JT, Schmader KE, Samsa GP, Weinberger M, Uttech KM, Lewis IK et al (1992) A method for assessing drug therapy appropriateness. J Clin Epidemiol 45:1045–1051
Gallagher P, Ryan C, Byrne S, Kennedy J, O’Mahony D (2008) STOPP (Screening Tool of Older Person’s Prescriptions) and START (Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment). Consensus validation. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 46(2):72–83
Delgado E et al (2009) Inappropriate prescription in older patients: the STOPP/START criteria. Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontol 44(5):273–279
Sganga F, Landi F, Vetrano DL, Corsonello A, Lattanzio F, Bernabei R, Onder G (2016) Impact of hospitalization on modification of drug regimens: results of the criteria to assess appropriate medication use among elderly complex patients study. Geriatr Gerontol Int 16(5):593–599
Gutiérrez M, Martínez N, Lacalle E, Beobide I, Larrayoz B, Tosato M (2016) Interventions to optimize pharmacologic treatment in hospitalized older adults: a systematic review. Rev Clin Esp 216(4):205–221
O’Connor M, O’Sullivan D, Gallagher P, Byrne S, Eustace J, O’Mahony D (2012) Prevention of adverse drug events in hospitalized older patients: a randomized controlled trial using STOPP/START criteria. Eur Geriatr Med 3(S1):132
Martínez-Almazán E, Castellà C, Albiol N, Cárdenas C, Sánchez-Rodríguez JL, García-Navarro JA (2013) Drug prescription suitability: application of the Screening Tool of Older Persons’ Prescriptions/Screening Tool to Alert to Right Treatment (STOPP/START) criteria in a day-care geriatric hospital. J Am Geriatr Soc 61(9):1622–1624
Delgado E, Alvarez A, Pérez C, Muñoz M, Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Bermejo T (2012) Results of integrating pharmaceutical care in an Acute Geriatric Unit. Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontolol 47:49–54
Escitalopram: QT interval prolongation. Informative note (2011) Spanish Agency for Medicines and Sanitary Products, AEMPS
Barris D (2015) Medication review according to STOPP-START criteria in older patients from the dose administration aids service of a community pharmacy. Farm Comunitarios 7(2):31–36
Hyeonseok C, Junjeong C, Young-Sang K, Sang Joon S, Kang Soo L, Hee-Jin H, Hye-Young K (2018) Prevalence and predictors of potentially inappropriate prescribing of central nervous system and psychotropic drugs among elderly patients: a national population study in Korea. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 74:1–8
Tommelein E, Mehuys E, Petrovic M et al (2015) Potentially inappropriate prescribing in community-dwelling older people across Europe: a systematic literature review. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 71:1415–1427
Sotoca JM, Anglada H, Molas G, Fontanais S, Rovira M, Montal S (2011) Application of the new STOPP-START criteria of inappropriate medication prescription in geriatrics in an institutional care setting. FAP 9(1):2–7
Danisha P, Dilip C, Mohan PL, Shinu C, Parambil JC, Sajid M (2015) Identification and evaluation of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in hospitalized geriatric patients using Beers criteria. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol 26(4):403–410
Tannenbaum C (2015) Inappropriate benzodiazepine use in elderly patients and its reduction. J Psychiatry Neurosci 40(3):27–28
San-José A et al (2015) Inappropriate prescribing to the oldest old patients admitted to hospital: prevalence, most frequently used medicines, and associated factors. BMC Geriatr 15:42
Conejos MD, Sánchez M, Delgado E, Sevilla I, González-Blazquez S, Montero B et al (2010) Potentially inappropriate drug prescription in older subjects across healthcare settings. Eur Geriatr Med. 1:9–14
García-Gollarte F, Baleriola-Júlvez J, Ferrero-López I, Cuenllas-Díaz A, Cruz-Jentoft AJ (2014) An educational intervention on drug use in nursing homes improves health outcomes resource utilization and reduces inappropriate drug prescription. JAMDA 15:885–891
Ayani I, Aguirre C, Gutiérrez G, Madariaga A, Rodríguez-Sasiaín JM, Martínez-Bengoechea MJ (1999) A cost analysis of suspected adverse drug reactions in a hospital emergency ward. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 8:529–534
Marroquín C, Iglesia M, Cobos P (2012) Adequacy of medication in patients 65 years or older in teaching health centers in Cáceres, Spain. Rev Esp Salud Pública 86:419–434
Delgado E, Montero B, Muñoz M, Vélez-Díaz-Pallarés M, Lozano I, Sánchez-Castellano C, Cruz-Jentoft AJ (2015) Improving drug prescribing in the elderly: a new edition of STOPP/START criteria. Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontol 50(2):89–96
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Foundation for Research at the General Hospital of Valencia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Ethical approval
The study design was approved by the ethics and clinical research committe at the CHGUV. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Garay-Bravo, C., Peña, A., Molina, M. et al. Application of the STOPP criteria in hospitalised elderly patients to detect and optimise inappropriate psychopharmaceutical prescriptions. Eur Geriatr Med 9, 597–602 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-018-0091-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-018-0091-x