Appropriate Medications (PIM) Use In The Elderly Population

Potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) use in the elderly population is defined as the use of a medication where the potential risks outweigh the expected benefits in older adults. Older adults experience some changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, which makes them more sensitive to certain adverse effects of medications. A list of potentially inappropriate medications, called the Beers Criteria, was developed to guide clinicians to identify medications where risks generally outweigh benefits in older adults. The Beers Criteria provides a list of drugs to avoid in all older adults, independent of diagnosis, as well as a list of drugs to avoid in certain older adults population because of the increased risk of adverse drug
reactions and poor risk to benefit ratio. Another tool that may serve as a guide for detection of PIM is the STOPP Criteria (Screening Tool of Older Persons’ potentially inappropriate Prescriptions).
The STOPP Criteria lists commonly encountered PIMs according to physiological systems. Beers Criteria and STOPP Criteria are similar in that both emphasize the higher risk of adverse drug events in older adults with the use of certain medications. However, STOPP focuses more on potential adverse drug-drug interactions and duplicate drug class prescriptions and includes drugs that are currently commonly used in older adult population.