Polypharmacy and Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIMs) in Older Adults with Cardiometabolic Disease: A STOPP/START Criteria-Based Analysis

Potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) are a common issue in older adults. Older adults often require multiple medications to manage cardiometabolic disease. This study aimed to identify potentially inappropriate medications and potential inappropriate omissions using STOPP/START criteria in older adult patients with cardiometabolic disease. We conducted an observational analytical study using retrospective data at a secondary care teaching hospital in Sukoharjo, Central Java. We included older adult patients admitted to the inpatient wards between January and June 2022. The prescriptions were analyzed using the STOPP/START Criteria 2016. The Chi-square test analysis was performed to examine the association between the number of drugs and the occurrence of PIMs. We included 97 geriatric inpatients. All patients received at least 5 drugs during each admission, 35.06% were classified as having hyperpolypharmacy. Among the 97 patients, 36.08% had PIM prescriptions, and 29.89% had PPOs. There was a statistically significant association between the number of drugs and PIMs in older adults. Compared with patients receiving > 10 medications, those receiving 5–10 medications had lower odds of PIM use (OR 0.409, 95% CI 0.173–0.969; p = 0.040). These findings highlight high medication burden as an important marker for targeted medication review in geriatric inpatients, particularly those with cardiometabolic multimorbidity.