Resumen de Improvement of the prescription in polymedicated elderly

Loreto Domínguez Senín, Bosco Barón-Franco, M. de Sousa Baena

• Objective: We selected the START/STOPP criteria in order to detect and analyze Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions (IMP) in over 65 years old patients who were admitted in the Traumatology service and measured the impact of submitted suggestions to the primary care physicians. Method: We followed up the patients, who were admitted in Traumatology service during three months, we reviewed their home therapy and performed a personal interview. After detecting some IMP, we informed their primary care physician. Six weeks after submitting the notifications, we checked their treatment again by a telephone interview. Results: Of 268 patients; 92 were over 65 years old. We detected 44 IMP in 25 patients: 19 IMP regarding the START criteria and 25 IMP regarding the STOPP criteria. We detected a single IMP in 13 patients, two IMP in seven patients, three IMP in three patients, one patient had four and another five. Six were modified. Conclusion: Using the STOPP/START criteria in elderly patients who were admitted at the hospital is a reliable tool for detecting IMP. It would be necessary to apply a different method of intervention