Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIMs) in Geriatric Outpatients Prescriptions in Yogyakarta: Pattern and Factors Related to Occurrences

Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIMs) were commonly found in geriatric patients’ prescriptions and widely assessed using Beer’s Criteria and STOPP/START tool. In this study we aimed to assess the patterns of PIMs in geriatric outpatients in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and the factors related to the occurrence. This study was using retrospective observational design and conducted at two teaching hospitals in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The data source included medical records of the outpatients aged 60 years during August to October 2022. The criteria used to evaluate PIMs from the prescriptions were the 2019 AGS Beers® Criteria and STOPP_INA tool based on the STOPP/START version 2 tool. Several predictors, including multimorbidity, polypharmacy, age, gender, health insurance, and working status, were analyzed using a logistic regression model. Out of the 393 subjects included in this study, 193 cases of PIMs were identified in 135 patients (34.35%), with a total of 67 cases according to the Beers Criteria and 141 cases according to STOPP_INA. Aspirin and benzodiazepines were found to be the drugs causing most of PIMs in geriatric patients. Polypharmacy emerged as the strongest predictors of PIM occurrence (p<0.05). The prevalence of PIMs in outpatient geriatric prescriptions at Yogyakarta Hospital was notably influenced by polypharmacy. Therefore, there is a pressing need for vigilant monitoring and meticulous drug selection when prescribing for the elderly population to mitigate the potential risks associated with PIMs.