Mark H. Beers - Biography - Beers Criteria

Beers Criteria

Beers led a team from Harvard University that studied 850 residents of Boston-area nursing homes, looking at the medications they were prescribed and their case histories. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1988, found that many had symptoms of mental confusion and tremors that were caused by antidepressants, antipsychotics and sedatives that they had been prescribed.

Using this research as a foundation, Beers prepared a list in 1991 called Beers Criteria that specifies several groups of medications that can cause harm in elederly patients, such as antihistamine and muscle relaxants, with the list updated again in 2003. Medical professionals use this list in reviewing case histories and in selecting medications for their patients.

A study performed by Beers was published in the November 1990 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that hospitals made mistakes 60% of the time in recording medications older patients were taking at the time they were admitted to the hospital, with three or more errors on 18% of the patient records reviewed in the study. He suggested that patients above age 65 should be asked a second time to confirm details of medications being taken around a day after admission to the hospital. Beers recommended that all people should carry a current list showing the name, dosage and frequency of all medications being taken.