Inappropriate prescribing in geriatric rural primary care: impact on adverse outcomes and relevant risk factors in a prospective observational cohort study

BACKGROUND: Several tools have revealed an association between potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) and adverse outcomes, but the one most fitted for the rural population has not been determined. AIMS: We investigated the performance of the Screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions (STOPP) and Screening Tool to Alert doctors to the Right Treatment (START) in identifying inappropriate prescribing and its association with adverse outcomes among older rural primary health care users. METHODS: A cohort of consenting outpatients aged ≥ 65 years in a rural Greek primary care center was assessed for PIM and potential prescribing omissions (PPO) using the START/STOPP version 2 criteria. Medications, comorbidities, functional status, and laboratory data were recorded along with 6-month incidence of emergency department visits, hospitalization, and death prospectively. RESULTS: Among 104 participants (median age 78 years, 49.1% women, receiving a median of 6 drugs), PPO was found in 78% and PIMs in 61%. PIM was multivariately correlated with multimorbidity (p = 0.029) and polypharmacy (p < 0,001), while drug-PPO was only associated with multimorbidity (p = 0.039). The number of PIM predicted emergency department visits and hospitalizations at 6-month follow-up (p value 0.011), independent of age, sex, frailty, comorbidities, and total medication number. DISCUSSION: The START/STOPP tool is useful in identifying inappropriate prescribing patterns leading to increased utilization of acute care services in older adults followed at a rural primary care setting. CONCLUSION: Inappropriate prescribing as identified by the START/STOPP criteria is prevalent among older adults with multimorbidity in rural primary care, and independently associated with future acute care visits. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40520-023-02475-y.