title: [Potentially inappropriate prescription according to the "STOPP" Criteria in heavily polymedicated elderly patients].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Appropriate prescribing is especially relevant in elderly people. The objective of this study is to analyse the potentially inappropriate prescription (PIP) in heavily polymedicated elderly patients according to the criteria Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Primary Care on patients assigned to the Siero-Sariego (Asturias) Health Centre, who were over 64 years old and heavily polymedicated (consumption >10 drugs for six months). The 65 Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions criteria were reviewed in the electronic Primary Care patient records, collecting sociodemographic variables, prescribed medications, and chronic diseases. Frequency distributions were made for each criterion, and causes related to PIP were explored using contingency tables, the Spearman correlation coefficient, and logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 349 polymedicated elderly patients were analysed with a prevalence of 6.4 (95% CI:5.76-7.08), a mean age of 79.2 years (SD:3.7), 62.2% were female, 14% institutionalised, a Charlson index of 2.9. The mean of number of drugs was 11.5 (SD:1.7), and the most frequent pathologies were high blood pressure (64%), diabetes (46%), and osteoarticular diseases (41%). There was at least one PIP in 72.9% of heavily polymedicated elderly patients [(Mean: 1.32 (SD:1.2)]. The Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions criteria least complied with were: therapeutic duplication (25.2%), use of long-acting benzodiazepines (15.8%), and inappropriate use of aspirin (10.9%). An association was found between having any inappropriate prescription and the number of medications prescribed (OR=1.22 [95% CI:1.04-1.43]) and inversely to the Charlson index (OR=0.76 [95% CI:0.65-0.89]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PIP is common in heavily polymedicated elderly patients. Special attention must be paid to the use of psychotropic drugs, which are implicated in a high volume of PIP.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud de Siero-Sariego, Asturias, España. Electronic address: teran841@gmail.com.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Terán-Álvarez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud de Siero-Sariego, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: González-García
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud de Ventanielles, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rivero-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Técnico de salud pública, Gerencia del Área Sanitaria IV, Oviedo, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Alonso-Lorenzo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud de Siero-Sariego, Asturias, España.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tarrazo-Suárez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057970:Inappropriate Prescribing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D019338:Polypharmacy; D000067561:Potentially Inappropriate Medication List; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs
keywords: Ancianos; Atención primaria; Drug prescription; Elderly; Polifarmacia; Polypharmacy; Prescripción de medicamentos; Primary Care