Inappropriate prescribing in older patients with cancer.

e20550 Background: Inappropriate medication use is common among community dwelling and hospitalized older adults but understudied in the oncology population. We measured the incidence of inappropriate prescribing among older cancer patients attending an oncology day-ward for systemic therapy. Methods: The tools used to identify inappropriate prescribing were the Beers’ criteria (both Independent [ID] of and Considering diagnosis [CD] – 2012 version) and the STOPP tool (Screening Tool of Older People’s potentially inappropriate Prescriptions). The setting was an urban based hospital oncology day-ward. Consecutive subjects ≥ 70 years were screened and all had both tools applied to their prescription drugs, cross referenced with their current active medical diagnosis. Results: Medication lists were collected from 96 patients from November 1st 2012 to January 31st2013: 52% male, mean age 75 years (range 70-88). The most common cancers were colorectal (24%), breast (23%), lung (11%) and prostate (11%). 38 pati...