Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults Intensive Care Patients According to TIME-to-STOP Criteria

Abstract

Objective: It was aimed in this study, to determine the prevalence and pattern of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use according to TIME-to-STOP criteria in older adults hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU). In addition, the results were compared with the results of our previous study, evaluated by 2019 Beers, STOPP/v2 criteria and EU(7)-PIM list. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, the data of patients aged 65 and over (n=139) hospitalized in the University Hospital ICU between 8 June 2020 and 11 January 2021, were evaluated retrospectively. The relationship between dependent and independent variables was evaluated with chi-square, Mann-Whitney U and t-test analyses. Results: The number of patients with at least one PIM use according to TIME-to-STOP criteria was 67 (48.2%) [80.6%, 59.7%, 48.2% in Beers, STOPP/v2 and EU(7)-PIM list, respectively]. PIM use showed no significant difference in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. The groups causing the highest rates of PIM use were antipsychotic, propulsive and sedative-hypnotic drugs. The presence of PIM use and prognosis showed no relationship; mortality was significantly higher in patients using midazolam and digoxin. Conclusion: According to TIME-to-STOP criteria, at least one PIM use was detected in approximately half of the older adults hospitalized in the ICU. In TIME-to-STOP criteria and 3 other screening criteria, there were differences between the prevalence of PIM, the drugs regarded as PIM or the PIM evaluation criteria. It is considered that there is a need to extend the scope of TIME-to-STOP criteria for ICU patients.