Potentially inappropriate medications and potentially prescribing omissions in Chinese older patients: Comparison of two versions of STOPP/START.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential prescribing omissions (PPOs) in elderly Chinese patients identified by the Screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions/Screening Tool to Alert to Right Treatment (STOPP/START) version 2 (v2) and version 1 (v1). The secondary objective was to analyse the risk factors associated with the PIMs/PPOs.

METHODS: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study, and all patients were aged ≥65 years and discharged from internal medical wards of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital in December 2018. STOPP/START v2 and STOPP/START v1 were used to detect PIMs/PPOs. The concordance between the two versions was calculated using kappa tests. A logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine variables independently associated with PIM/PPO use.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In the 662 patients included, the median age was 73 years and 361 were male (54.53%). PIMs were present in 36.1% and 47.7% of participants according to the STOPP v1 and STOPP v2, respectively. The prevalence of PPOs was 42.0% and 64.2% according to the START v1 and START v2, respectively. Drug prescribed without indication was the most common item in PIMs, whereas ACEIs were the drugs most frequently involved with PPOs according to the STOPP/START v2. Two versions of the STOPP criteria indicated a moderate coherence, whereas two versions of the START criteria showed poor accordance. Age (OR 1.029, 1.004-1.054), gender (OR 1.536, 1.103-2.138) and the number of prescribed medications (<5: OR 1; 5-9: OR 2.503, 1.173-5.342; ≥10: OR 4.324, 2.204-9.235) were associated factors with PIMs identified by the STOPP v2, whereas PPOs identified by the START v2 were independently associated with age (OR 1.039, 1.012-1.066), activities of daily living (ADL) score (OR 2.713, 1.818-4.048), the number of prescribed medications (<5: OR 1; 5-9: OR 2.704, 1.524-4.795; ≥10: OR 3.075, 1.704-5.549) and Charlson Comorbidity Index (OR 1.302, 1.110-1.529).

WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: This study showed a high prevalence of PIMs/PPOs in aged internal medical ward inpatients in China, which was associated with various correlates. The STOPP/START v2 had a higher detection rate than v1.