Evaluation of the rational analgesic use in elderly adults: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives: To assess inappropriate analgesic use (IAU) by comparison of STOPP/START Version-2 and Beers 2019 criteria. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 331 elderly patients admitted to family medicine clinics at a tertiary hospital between February and July 2018. Data were collected from face-to-face surveys, including informed patient consent and electronic drug monitoring databases. Results: The presence of IAU by STOPP version2 was higher than the Beers criteria (19.6%, 14.5%, respectively; P<0.04; Z= –2.5) with a moderate agreement (Kappa= 0.458). The number of drugs and pain score were predictors of IAU. The most commonly caused IAU was diclofenac, although naproxen was the most used analgesic. Almost 39% of diclofenac use, 18.5% of naproxen use, and 33% of etodolac use were IAU. Most commonly, IAU reasons were; (i) NSAID use in hearth failure (Beers) (ii) NSAID use with an antiplatelet agent(s) without PPI (STOPP). Conclusions: The difference between criteria in terms of IAU was significant in favor of STOPP V2.