Development of a list of potentially inappropriate drugs for the Korean elderly using the Delphi method

Objectives: This study aimed to develop a list of potentially inappropriate drugs for the elderly in Korea using the Delphi technique. Methods: A Delphi evaluation with a two-round survey was used to reach a consensus on the criteria for inappropriate medications for the elderly in an outpatient setting. The expert panel consisted of 7 family medicine specialists, 3 psychiatrists, 1 neurologist and 3 clinical pharmacists. The level of inappropriateness was determined by considering clinical importance of the risk and availability of alternative therapy, and was rated on a scale of 1 (very low) to 4 (very high). The drugs were categorized into three groups. The first group (group 1) was drugs that should be avoided. The second (group 2) was for drugs that need to be monitored. And the third (group 3) was for drugs with a low level of risk. Results: We took a list of 60 ingredients for drugs and created a list of 57 potentially inappropriate ingredients for the elderly, independent of diagnosis. Forty-two drugs were classified as group 1. Thirteen drugs were classified as group 2. And 2 drugs were classified as group 3. Ninety-three drugs were potentially inappropriate for the elderly with 29 diagnoses. Groups 1, 2, and 3 included 63, 28, and 3 drugs, respectively. Conclusions: This study is an important development of a list of drugs potentially inappropriate for the elderly in Korea. The application of this list may be useful for identifying potentially inappropriate medication uses and decreasing drug-related problems.