February 2014
Support Care Cancer. 2013 Dec 21. [Epub ahead of print]
Lindsay J, Dooley M, Martin J, Fay M, Kearney A, Barras M
This systematic review using Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, IPA, and CINAHL evaluates potentially inappropriate medications in cancer patients with limited life expectancies as preventative medications are potentially inappropriate in these patients and could increase adverse events, tablet burden and costs. Three retrospective or cross-sectional studies (total participants = 479) relating to this patient group were reviewed. Over 20 % of patients had potentially inappropriate medications. A further six studies (total participants over 500,000 – mostly from retrospective and cross-sectional audits, but also including an RCT 382 participants), in other patient groups were found demonstrating the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications, as well as the outcomes of ceasing potentially inappropriate medications. Tools and strategies to identify these medications have focused on the elderly populations (including Screening Tool of Older Person’s Prescriptions (STOPP)/Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment (START) criteria and the good palliative–geriatric practice algorithm) and the impact of ceasing potentially inappropriate medications in palliative cancer patients has not been assessed.