Evaluation of potentially inappropriate drugs and drug procedures in the old age (II.)

INTRODUCTION: The issue of care for older patients has recently been discussed more and more frequently. The proportion of older adults in the population has been raising exponentially, especially in the last few decades, so the expectations concerning the extent and quality of geriatric care increases as well. In order to improve the quality of pharmacotherapy in the old age, many tools have been published in the last 25 years aimed at support of physicians in better care for older adults, enabling selection of safer pharmacotherapeutic startegies that respect specific pharmacological, physiological and homeostatic changes in the old age. Consequently, multiple explicit criteria of potentially inappropriate drugs and drug procedures (PIMs) have been published to help clinicians to distinguish pharmacotherapeutic strategies of choice for geriatric patients and oppositely to identify drugs, indications and dosing schedules potentially inappropriate in seniors. The aim of this diploma thesis was to evaluate in the pilot round the registration rates and other issues related to availability of all known PIMs in countries participating in the EU COST Action IS1402 study. METHODOLOGY: Based on diploma thesis of S. Grešáková, MS ("Application of explicite criteria of medications potentially inappropriate..