STOPP Criteria: What It Is and How It Prevents Dangerous Medications in Seniors
When older adults take too many drugs, things can go wrong fast. The STOPP criteria, a set of evidence-based guidelines used to identify potentially inappropriate medications in older patients. Also known as Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions, it helps doctors spot prescriptions that do more harm than good. These aren’t just suggestions—they’re backed by real-world data from hospitals and clinics across Europe and North America. Every year, thousands of seniors end up in the ER because a drug they were prescribed made their condition worse. STOPP criteria exist to stop that.
It works by listing drugs that are risky for older bodies. For example, long-term use of benzodiazepines like diazepam increases fall risk by 50% in people over 65. Anticholinergics like diphenhydramine (found in many sleep aids and allergy pills) can cause confusion, memory loss, and even dementia-like symptoms. These aren’t rare side effects—they’re predictable. The polypharmacy, the use of multiple medications by a patient, often older adults problem is real. A senior might be on ten pills for heart disease, arthritis, sleep, and depression, and none of those prescriptions were ever reviewed together. That’s where STOPP steps in. It doesn’t just list bad drugs—it tells you when to stop them. And it pairs with START criteria, which tells you what drugs you should be giving seniors, like statins for heart protection or bisphosphonates for bone health.
The real power of STOPP isn’t in the list—it’s in the conversation it forces. Doctors, pharmacists, and caregivers start asking: Is this drug still needed? Could it be causing the confusion, the dizziness, or the constipation we’re seeing? One study showed that using STOPP reduced hospital admissions by 27% in nursing homes over just six months. That’s not theory—that’s lives saved. You’ll find posts here that dig into specific dangerous drugs linked to STOPP, like how antipsychotics used for sleep in dementia patients increase stroke risk, or why long-term proton pump inhibitors can wreck kidney function. You’ll also see how these rules connect to real issues like drug interactions, medication safety checks, and how pharmacies handle prescriptions for older adults. These aren’t abstract guidelines. They’re tools used every day in clinics, pharmacies, and homes to keep seniors out of the hospital and alive longer.
What follows are real-world examples of how these rules apply. You’ll see how a common painkiller can trigger kidney failure in someone with heart disease, how a sleep aid can make dementia worse, and why stopping one drug can fix three symptoms at once. This isn’t about eliminating meds—it’s about using the right ones, at the right time, for the right person.
