A population study combined potentially inappropriate prescriptions with omitted treatments, a broader outcome than benzodiazepine use alone.
The study applied selected STOPP and START criteria to records for 45,408 adults aged at least 70. Overall potentially inappropriate prescribing was identified in 58.1%. Benzodiazepines were among common STOPP findings, while START criteria identified missing therapies in other disease areas.
The combined measure includes multiple medicines and omissions. Available record fields, applied criteria, and cross-sectional design constrain individualized judgments. Greater age, polypharmacy, and care setting were associated with flags, but those associations do not establish medication-caused injury. The study is useful for organizing review across both excess treatment and undertreatment. A specific benzodiazepine assessment still requires indication, duration, administration, and response, rather than treating the overall prescribing-quality statistic as an adverse-event rate.
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC6875995.