What does Beers list stand for
Eleanor Gray
Published May 26, 2026
The “Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults”, commonly called the Beers List, are guidelines for healthcare professionals to help improve the safety of prescribing medications for older adults.
Why is the Beers list called the Beers list?
The list was introduced in 1991 to improve the quality of care for older adults. It is named after the geriatrician Mark H. Beers, MD, who worked with a panel of experts to develop a list of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) in older adults in the early 1990s.
How many drugs are on the Beers list?
Based on an extensive review of more than 1,400 studies, the 2019 AGS Beers Criteria® includes five lists of nearly 100 medications or medication classes to avoid or use with caution for some or all older adults.
Why is the Beers list important?
The goal of the Beers Criteria is to improve the effectiveness and safety of prescription practices for geriatric patients. The AGS has noted that the Beers Criteria should never be used to supersede clinical judgment and individualized patient care.What is the Beers Criteria in nursing?
The Beers Criteria® is a tool that provides guidance in optimizing safe medication practices for older adults. The tool is used to identify potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) for a target population of adults over the age of 65.
Why is Macrobid on the Beers list?
Thus, a primary reason that nitrofurantoin is on the Beers List of medications to avoid in the elderly is inadequate drug concentration in the urine when creatinine clearance falls below 60 mL/min.
Is gabapentin on beers list?
Gabapentinoids, pregabalin and gabapentin, were recommended only in low doses in the last Beers Criteria due to ataxia and falls and received an additional recommendation to avoid in combination with opioids because of sedation, respiratory depression, and death. They are acceptable to use when tapering opioids.
What is elderly beer list?
Mark Beers published a paper with a list of medications that were considered to be not appropriate for people living in long-term care facilities – mostly older adults. This is now called the AGS Beers Criteria and informally referred to as the Beers list. It’s used to help doctors improve care for older patients.Is aspirin on beers list?
Beers Criteria: The 2019 updated Beers Criteria recommends to use extra caution for the use of aspirin for primary prevention of ASCVD in patients 70 years or older due to the risk of major bleeding.
Are statins on beers list?Statins. A widely used drug class that some might have expected to see in the Beers Criteria is absent.
Article first time published onAre benzodiazepines on the Beers list?
The Beers criteria stipulate a maximum daily dose for short-acting benzodiazepines, with doses above the maximum considered potentially inappropriate.
At what age are you considered geriatric?
Geriatrics refers to medical care for older adults, an age group that is not easy to define precisely. “Older” is preferred over “elderly,” but both are equally imprecise; > 65 is the age often used, but most people do not need geriatrics expertise in their care until age 70, 75, or even 80.
Is baclofen safe for elderly?
Side effects such as hallucinations, confusion or mental depression, other mood or mental changes, and severe drowsiness may be especially likely to occur in elderly patients, who are usually more sensitive than younger adults to the effects of baclofen tablet.
Is Temazepam on beers list?
Analysis of PA-PSRS data shows that many reports of ADRs and falls involving the elderly cite a medica- tion that appears on the Beers criteria, such as meperidine (DEMEROL), temazepam (RESTORIL), promethazine (PHENERGAN), and diphenhydramine (BENADRYL).
What drugs should be avoided in geriatric patients?
- Antidepressants amitriptyline (Elavil) and imipramine (Tofranil)
- Anti-Parkinson drug trihexyphenidyl (Artane)
- Irritable bowel syndrome drug dicyclomine (Bentyl)
Is Cipro on the Beers list?
The current update to the Beers Criteria includes warnings regarding glimepiride, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, rivaroxaban and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; as well as the deletion of multiple drugs from the list due to availability.
Is Clonazepam on the Beers list?
The top six medications of the Beers list most commonly used by the elderly in this study were metoclopramide, ketoprofen, acetylsalicylic acid, insulin, ipratropium bromide, and clonazepam, which accounted for more than 64.0% of the total use of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults.
Is baclofen on the Beers list?
The first-line therapy (baclofen) and one second-line therapy (dantrolene), according to the NICE guidelines, are not on the Beers Criteria list, but both medications can increase the risk of falls.
Is myrbetriq on beers list?
Being such, the Beers Criteria strongly recommend to avoid these agents in patients with delirium, dementia, or cognitive impairment. Anticholinergic drugs may worsen delirium and cause adverse CNS effects in patients with dementia or cognitive impairment. Mirabegron is not included in the updated Beers Criteria.
What are beers drugs?
The Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults, commonly called the Beers List, are guidelines for healthcare professionals to help improve the safety of prescribing medications for older adults 65 years and older in all except palliative setting.
Who created the Beers list?
History of the Beers Criteria One of the first set of explicit criteria for inappropriate drug use was developed by Mark H. Beers, MD, while a junior faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles and was published in 1991.
Does Temazepam cause memory problems?
Dizziness, drowsiness, headache, oversedation, short-term memory loss, coordination problems, and confusion. May cause a drop in blood pressure, especially when going from a lying to standing position. This may increase the risk of falls.
Can terazosin cause memory loss?
Anticholinergics In fact, according to Dr. Kernisan, a 2015 study found that greater use of anticholinergics was linked to a higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s. Note that medications that relax the urethra, such as tamsulosin or terazosin (Flomax and Hytrin, respectively) are NOT anticholinergic.
How often is Beers list updated?
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Beers Criteria® were updated recently, as they are every three years, by an interdisciplinary panel of geriatric experts.
Is Benadryl a Beers criteria?
Accordingly, the 2015 Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults recommends that individuals 65 years or older avoid use of diphenhydramine and doxylamine; however, many over-the-counter sleep products contain these active ingredients.
Is Cyclobenzaprine on the Beers list?
Because they cause CNS depression, several skeletal muscle relaxants are on the Beers list, including carisoprodol, chlorzoxazone, cyclobenzaprine, metaxalone, methocarbamol, and orphenadrine.
At what age does health start to decline?
New study says decline begins in our 50s Researchers with Duke University’s School of Medicine suggest that physical decline begins in the decade of the 50s and worsens as we age, especially for those who don’t exercise.
What is the difference between a geriatrician and a gerontologist?
While geriatrics deals with the care of the elderly and their needs, gerontology is the study of aging and its impacts on the population. Gerontologists perform a support function in educating and understanding aging, while geriatricians deal with the care of these older adults.
What is middle age for a woman?
Midlife, the period of the lifespan between younger and older adulthood, has been described as a period of transition in women’s lives. Investigators studying midlife have focused on women 40 to 65 years of age, who typically experience multiple social, psychological and biological transitions.
Is baclofen linked to dementia?
“It can present with dementia-like symptoms.” About 1 in 25 people with low kidney function prescribed high doses of baclofen wound up being admitted to a hospital for severe confusion, according to a study of nearly 16,000 older Canadians with chronic kidney disease.
What is the most sedating muscle relaxer?
Cyclobenzaprine is the most heavily studied and has been shown to be effective for various musculoskeletal conditions. The sedative properties of tizanidine and cyclobenzaprine may benefit patients with insomnia caused by severe muscle spasms.