The Prevalence of Potential Prescribing Omissions for Antiplatelets and Statins in Older Adults With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

Background The Screening Tool to Alert to Right Treatment (START) criteria for older adults was developed to recognize potential prescribing omissions (PPOs) of clinically indicated medications. According to these criteria, statins and antiplatelets should be prescribed for older adults with a documented history of coronary artery, cerebral, or peripheral vascular disease unless contraindicated. Aim This study aimed to investigate physicians’ adherence to START criteria and identify the prevalence of PPO, considering the prescription of statins and antiplatelets in older patients with a history of coronary artery, cerebral, or peripheral vascular disease. Methods In this single-center, cohort, retrospective study, patients aged >65 years with a history of coronary artery, cerebral, or peripheral vascular disease were included. The prevalence of PPO for statins and antiplatelet therapy was identified. This study was guided by the screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions (STOPP)/START criteria published in 2016. Results A total of 244 patients with a history of coronary, cerebral, or peripheral vascular disease were included in this study. Statin use was appropriately observed in 131/220 (59.5%) while antiplatelets were appropriately observed in 219/237 (92.4%). Therefore, the PPO for statins and antiplatelets was 40.5% and 7.6%, respectively. Conclusion The results of this study identified that the prevalence of PPO for statins and antiplatelets for older adults was high. We encourage prescribers to utilize tools such as Beer’s criteria or STOPP/START, which may assist their decision in addition to their clinical judgment in weighing the benefit to the risk of starting or stopping antiplatelets or statins in older adult patients.