Specifying ICD9, ICPC and ATC codes for the STOPP/START criteria: a multidisciplinary consensus panel.

Background: the STOPP/START criteria are a promising framework to increase appropriate prescribing in the elderly in clinical practice. However, the current definitions of the STOPP/START criteria are rather non-specific, allowing undesirable variations in interpretation and thus application. The aim of this study was to design specifications of the STOPP/START criteria into international disease and medication codes to facilitate computerised extraction from medical records and databases.