Evaluation of rationality of geriatric patients prescription based on STOPP/START criteria in a tertiary care hospital

Background: The geriatric population (65 years and above) is a challenge to treat for the medical fraternity, exposing them to the risk of potentially inappropriate prescription (PIP) and thus, increasing the risk of adverse drug reactions (ADR). The over-use of drugs and irrational choice lead to the prescription of a potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) and the underuse of appropriate drugs leading to potential prescribing omission (PPO). Screening Tool of Older Persons' Potentially Inappropriate Prescriptions (STOPP) and Screening Tool to Alert doctors to the Right Treatment (START) criteria is one of the most effective tools to check the rationality of the prescribed drugs. Methods: The study was a six-month (March 2023 to August 2023) prospective observational design. A total of 193 patients were enrolled in the study. Case report forms were used to confirm the diagnosis and medications. Geriatric patients who fulfilled the study inclusion criteria were assessed using the STOPP/START toolkit version 2. Results: The majority of the study participants belonged to age group 65 to 70 years. Out of these 40.4% of the study participants had Potentially Inappropriate Medications based on STOPP criteria and 31.1% had Potential Prescription Omissions based on START criteria. Conclusions: Potentially Inappropriate Prescriptions were assessed using STOPP/START criteria in version 2. A high prevalence of PIM and PPO was found. Co-morbidity and polypharmacy were linked to a higher chance of PIM. Thus, this criterion can be used to generate rational prescriptions for the elderly population.