Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2016 , Vol 19, Issue 3
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY OVERVIEW OF START/STOPP CRITERIA IN ELDERLY PATIENTS' DRUG USAGE: A SPECIALIST'S PERSPECTIVE
Emel EKŞİOĞLU1, Bilge KESİKBURUN1, Aslı CAN1, Zahide ŞİMŞEK2, Hamza SANMAN3, Esra TUTAL4, Fuat DEMİREL5, Melike YÜCEEGE6, Eylem CANKURTARAN ŞAHİN7, Ekrem YETER3, Aytül ÇAKCI1
1Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, ANKARA
2Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, ANKARA
3Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Cardiology, ANKARA
4Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Oncology, ANKARA
5Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Urology, ANKARA
6Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Chest Diseases, ANKARA
7Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, ANKARA Introduction: Elderly people have a high prevalence of chronic illness and multiple prescriptions. This study aimed to screen the inappropriate prescribing according to START/STOPP criteria, evaluate the related specialist's opinion, and discuss the difference between the screening tool and expert opinions in the elderly population.

Materials and Method: Data were collected via personal interview with the patient by a physiatrist. Screening tool START/STOPP criteria were used to identify inappropriate prescriptions at Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic. The specialists examined the referred patients in their areas of expertise.

Results: We enrolled 374 patients aged over 65. According to STOPP criteria, 96 (25.6%) patients were accepted as potentially inappropriate medication recipients. Among those, 54 (4.2%) were found to be inappropriate according to both STOPP criteria and expert opinion. The most frequently observed inappropriate medications in the screening tool were 30 proton pump inhibitors and 14 sulfonylurea medications; however, only 4 proton pump inhibitors and 4 sulphonylurea usage were considered inappropriate after specialist consultation.

Conclusion: All specialists who treat the geriatric population should be aware of inappropriate drugs and refer the patients to the relevant departments. The alerts of STOPP/START criteria may help in finding individualized solutions for each patient. Keywords : Aged; Disease; Potentially Inappropriate Medication List