Strengths and limitations of the study
This is the largest longitudinal study to report on the association
between potentially inappropriate prescribing and post-discharge health
outcomes in a cohort of geriatric rehabilitation inpatients using
STOPP/START v2 criteria. The data were collected through a highly
standardized comprehensive assessments performed by a trained
multidisciplinary team, providing detailed information, which may
strengthen the clinical robustness of our findings. However, it was a
single-site study in a geriatric rehabilitation inpatient─ the
interpretation and generalisability of the findings to other care
settings or patients must be done with caution. The observational study
design limits the ability to establish a causal relationship between
inappropriate medication and clinical outcomes. In addition, whether
patients discharged from geriatric rehabilitation were adhered to their
medication or have made changes to their prescription following
discharge from geriatric rehabilitation were unable to verify.