簡介老人藥品使用適當性之評估工具

老人潛在不適當藥品（potentially inappropriate medication, PIM）使用盛行率很高，乃是一個嚴重的社區健康照護問題，老人PIM使用會增加不良藥品事件、跌倒、住院、急診求診等問題，而導致醫療費用支出增加。本文目的在介紹藥品適當性的判定準則，並簡介幾種常見的藥品適當性評估工具，包括藥品適當性指標（Medication Appropriateness Index）、Beers準則系列六種、老人處方篩檢工具（Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions, STOPP）和提醒醫師正確治療篩檢工具（Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment, START）系列二種、泰國準則，以及臺灣版潛在性不適當用藥（PIM-Taiwan）準則，以利臨床醫護人員於臨床實務中可視情況加以應用。 The prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use is high, presenting a serious public health problem. In older adults, PIM increases the risks of adverse drug events, falls, hospitalizations, and emergency treatments as well as related medical expenses. The currently popular criteria for determining medication appropriateness and several common medication appropriateness assessment tools are introduced in this paper, including the Medication Appropriateness Index, the Beers criteria series, the Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions (STOPP) and the Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment (START) series, Thailand criteria, and the PIM-Taiwan criteria, with the goal of facilitating their application by medical professionals in clinical practice.