Omiss？o de fármacos modificadores do risco cardiovascular em idosos admitidos numa Unidade de Acidentes Vasculares Cerebrais

goals: to quantify and characterize prescribing omissions of cardiovascular risk management therapy using start (screening tool to alert doctors to the right treatment) criteria. type of study: descriptive observational study local: stroke unity of the ？centro hospitalar da cova da beira (chcb)？. population: elderly patients (age ≥65 years) admitted with acute cardiovascular disease. methods: medical records from elderly patients admitted between october and december 2009 were consulted and the start criteria applied to data on prescribed medicines. results: our study included 56 elderly in-patients. we detected 63 prescribing omissions in 69,8% of these elderly (average of 1,19 omissions by patient), from which 74,5% (n=38) were corrected. prescribing omissions were also detected in 80,9% of patients taking 5 or more medications simultaneously. in 10 patients, 13 omissions detected at hospital admission were not corrected and in 3 patients, 3 new prescribing omissions were detected. conclusions: the prevalence of omission of evidence-based appropriate drug therapy in cardiac acutely-ill hospitalized elderly patients is high. start criteria are a useful instrument to validate essential drug therapy, particularly in relation to cardiovascular disease prevention.