Inappropriate prescribing according to the STOPP/START criteria in older people from a primary care setting.

Background: STOPP (screening tool of older persons' prescriptions)/START (screening tool to alert doctors to right treatment) criteria aim to identify potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) due to mis-, over- and under-prescription in older patients. Initially developed by Irish experts, their applicability has been demonstrated in primary health care (PHC).

Objective: To quantify and identify the most frequent PIM at PHC level using STOPP/START criteria.