Table 3.
Potentially inappropriate medications identified on admission during the programme
| PIMs type | n (%) |
| Drug indication criteria | 84 (25.1) |
| Any drug prescribed without an evidence-based clinical indication | 59 |
| Any drug prescribed beyond the recommended duration, where treatment duration is well defined | 18 |
| Any duplicate drug class prescription | 7 |
| Cardiovascular system criteria | 6 (1.8) |
| Amiodarone as first-line antiarrhythmic therapy in supraventricular tachyarrhythmia | 4 |
| Aldosterone antagonists with concurrent potassium-conserving drugs without monitoring of serum potassium | 2 |
| Coagulation system criteria | 9 (2.7) |
| Long-term aspirin at doses greater than 160 mg per day | 7 |
| Aspirin with a past history of peptic ulcer disease without concomitant proton pump inhibitor | 2 |
| Nervous system criteria | 59 (17.6) |
| Benzodiazepines for ≥ 4 weeks | 32 |
| Neuroleptic antipsychotic in patients with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia unless symptoms are severe and other treatments have failed | 20 |
| Neuroleptics as hypnotics, unless sleep disorder is due to psychosis or dementia | 2 |
| Prolonged use of first-generation antihistamines | 5 |
| Renal system criteria | 2 (0.6) |
| Digoxin at a long-term dose greater than 125 µg/day if eGFR < 30 mL/min / 1.73 m2 | 2 |
| Gastrointestinal system criteria | 3 (0.9) |
| Drugs likely to cause constipation in patients with chronic constipation where non-constipating alternatives are appropriate | 3 |
| Respiratory system criteria | 2 (0.6) |
| Anti-muscarinic bronchodilators with a history of narrow angle glaucoma or bladder outflow obstruction | 1 |
| Benzodiazepines with acute or chronic respiratory failure | 1 |
| Drugs that predictably increase the risk of falls in older people | 25 (7.5) |
| Benzodiazepines | 11 |
| Hypnotic Z-drugs (eg, zolpidem) | 14 |
| Analgesic drugs | 14 (4.2) |
| Use of regular (as distinct from PRN) opioids without concomitant laxative | 10 |
| Long-acting opioids without short-acting opioids for break-through pain | 4 |
| Antimuscarinic/anticholinergic drug burden | 131 (39.3) |
| Concomitant use of two or more drugs with antimuscarinic/anticholinergic properties | 131 |
| Total | 335 (100) |
PIM potentially inappropriate medication, eGFR estimated glomerular filtration rate