A concept analysis of deprescribing medications in older people

Cost-Consequence Analysis of Deprescribing to Optimize Health Outcomes for Frail Older People: A Within-Trial Analysis

OBJECTIVES

The structured, clinically supervised withdrawal of medicines, known as deprescribing, is one strategy to address inappropriate polypharmacy. This study aimed to evaluate the costs and consequences of deprescribing in frail older people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in Australia.

DESIGN

A within-trial cost-consequence analysis of a deprescribing intervention-Opti-Med. The Opti-Med double-blind randomized controlled trial of deprescribing included 3 groups: blinded control, blinded intervention, and an open intervention group.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Seventeen RACFs in Western Australia and New South Wales. Participants were 303 older people living in participating RACFs from March 2014 to February 2019.

METHODS

Analysis was conducted from the health sector perspective. Health economic outcomes assessed include cost saved from deprescribed medicines and the incremental quality-adjusted life-years. Costs were presented in 2022 Australian dollars.

RESULTS

The total cost of the Opti-Med intervention was $239.13 per participant. The costs saved through deprescribed medicines over 12 months after adjusting for mortality within the trial period was $328.90 per participant in the blinded intervention group and $164.00 per participant in the open intervention group. On average, the cost of the intervention was more than offset by the cost saved from deprescribed medicines. Extrapolating these findings to the Australian population suggests a potential net cost saving of about $1 to $16 million per annum for the health system nationally. The incremental quality-adjusted life-years were very similar across the 3 groups within the trial period.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Deprescribing for frail older people living in RACFs can be a cost-saving intervention without reducing the quality of life. Systemwide implementation of deprescribing across RACFs in Australia has the potential to improve health care delivery through the cost savings, which could be reapplied to further optimize care within RACFs.

Deprescribing in a multimorbid older adult: A case vignette study among community pharmacists and primary care physicians

Collaborative deprescribing can include pharmacists' medication review with identification and suggestion of potential deprescribing targets to physicians. Case vignettes can be a valuable method for researching variations in clinical decision making, especially in settings unaccustomed to newer clinical approaches such as deprescribing. This study aimed to explore if pharmacists can identify deprescribing targets and if physicians would accept pharmacist's deprescribing rationales. A cross-sectional study was performed using an online case vignette based on a real-life elderly patient. Pharmacists were asked to indicate which medicines they would recommend deprescribing, alongside a rationale. Physicians were asked to state their acceptance of the proposed pharmacist's deprescribing suggestion. Pharmacists gave 1275 deprescribing rationales, and most were given for deprescribing opioids, NSAID and diuretics. Physicians would accept rationales to deprescribe a median of 10 medicines, while pharmacist would recommend deprescribing a median of six medicines. Most difference lays in deprescribing of preventative medicines. Healthcare providers share agreement on deprescribing targets, but pharmacists show hesitancies in making recommendations that could hamper potential collaboration. Action is needed to improve pharmacists' skills in recognizing deprescribing targets and confidence in making suggestions, which could lead to opening of possibilities for joint patient care.

Adaptation and validation of the revised Patients' Attitudes towards Deprescribing (rPATD) questionnaire for benzodiazepine receptor agonists

BACKGROUND

The revised Patients' Attitudes Towards Deprescribing (rPATD) questionnaire explores older adults' views on deprescribing in general. Those views may differ, however, when the target is a specific drug such as benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRA).

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to adapt the 22-item French rPATD questionnaire to create a BZRA-specific instrument and to assess the psychometric properties of this new tool.

METHODS

The adaptation of the questionnaire comprised 3 steps: 1) item transformation during group discussions with 8 healthcare providers and 8 BZRA users (aged ≥65 years), 2) pre-test of the questionnaire with 12 other older adults to ensure items understanding, 3) evaluation of the psychometric properties of the new questionnaire with 221 older BZRA users recruited in Belgium, France, and Switzerland. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest reliability with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

RESULTS

After the pre-test, the questionnaire had 24 items (19 adapted from the French rPATD, 3 removed, and 5 added). The EFA, however, found that several items performed poorly. Eleven items were consequently removed, based on statistical performance and clinical relevance. Three factors were extracted from the EFA performed on the 11 retained items and were named "Concerns about stopping BZRA", "BZRA inappropriateness", and "Dependence on BZRA". The questionnaire also includes two global questions about willingness to reduce BZRA dosage and willingness to discontinue BZRA. All factors showed acceptable internal consistency (0.68 ≤ Cronbach's alpha ≤0.74). Two factors showed acceptable test-retest reliability. The "Concerns about stopping BZRA" factor was found to vary over time (ICC [95%CI]: 0.35[-0.02; 0.64]).

CONCLUSIONS

We developed and validated a 13-item questionnaire to evaluate the attitudes of older people towards BZRA deprescribing. Despite some limitations, this questionnaire appears to be a useful tool for facilitating shared decision-making on BZRA deprescribing.

Barriers and enablers to deprescribing in long-term care: A qualitative investigation into the opinions of healthcare professionals in Ireland

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of polypharmacy increases with age, increasing the exposure of older adults to potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). Deprescribing has been shown to reduce PIMs for older residents in long-term care; however, deprescribing is not universally implemented. This study aims to identify the barriers and enablers to deprescribing in Irish long-term care facilities from the healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perspective.

METHODS

A qualitative descriptive approach was conducted using semi-structured interviews with HCPs working in long-term care (general practitioners, pharmacists and nurses). Purposive sampling with maximum variation was applied to select long-term care sites to identify HCPs, supplemented with convenience sampling of post-graduate HCPs from University College Cork. Data was thematically analysed and mapped to a framework of deprescribing barriers and enablers informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework.

RESULTS

Twenty-six HCPs participated from 13 long-term care facilities. The main barriers and enablers identified mapped to five domains. Barriers included insufficient resources, lack of co-ordination between healthcare settings and negative social influences. Additional barriers exist in private settings including deprescribing awareness, commitment and the need for incentives. Deprescribing enablers included interprofessional support and patient social influence. To encourage deprescribing, potential enablers include HCP education, pharmacist role expansion and tailored deprescribing guidelines within a structured process.

CONCLUSION

Interventions to support deprescribing should build on existing systems, involve stakeholders and utilise guidelines within a structured process. Any intervention must account for the nuanced barriers and enablers which exist in both public and private settings.

Effects of discontinuation of antihypertensive drugs on frailty syndrome in outpatients: a 1-year prospectively designed retrospective chart-review pilot study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effects of discontinuing antihypertensive drugs on the characteristics of patients with frailty syndrome.

METHODS

This prospective pilot study was conducted between March 2016 and July 2019. Among patients who visited the frailty clinic within this period, outpatients who received antihypertensive drugs at their first visit and were followed-up for about 1 year were enrolled. Participants who discontinued or continued antihypertensive drugs during 1 year of follow-up were classified into a discontinuation group or continuation group, respectively. Each domain in the Kihon checklist (KCL), fall risk score, short physical performance battery (SPPB) score, and skeletal muscle index (SMI) were assessed at the first visit and 1-year follow-up assessment, and were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

Among 498 patients who attended the frailty clinic, 78 were enrolled (discontinuation group, n = 19; continuation group, n = 59). At the first visit, SMI scores were significantly higher in the discontinuation versus continuation group. At the 1-year assessment, physical strength in the KCL for the discontinuation group and various SPPB scores for both groups were significantly improved, and the fall risk score was improved in the continuation group.

CONCLUSION

Discontinuation of antihypertensive drugs may positively affect physical performance.

Recent Updates on Risk and Management Plans Associated with Polypharmacy in Older Population

The concept of polypharmacy encompasses adverse drug reactions and non-adherence factors in elderly individuals. It also leads to the increased use of healthcare services and negative health outcomes. The problem is further alleviated by the odds of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM), which lead to the development of drug-related problems. Since polypharmacy is more commonly observed in the elderly population, urgency is required to introduce operative protocols for preventing and managing this problem. The family medicine model of care can be associated with favorable illness outcomes regarding satisfaction with consultation, treatment adherence, self-management behaviors, adherence to medical advice, and healthcare utilization. Hence, interventions built on family medicine models can provide significant support in improving the outcomes of the older population and their quality of life. In this regard, the authors have taken up the task of explaining the accessible resources which can be availed to improve the application of health care services in the field of geriatric medicine.

Continue or not to continue? Attitudes towards deprescribing among community-dwelling older adults in China

Background

Inappropriate prescribing of medications and polypharmacy among older adults are associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes. It is critical to understand the attitudes towards deprescribing—reducing the use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs)—among this vulnerable group. Such information is particularly lacking in low - and middle-income countries.

Methods

In this study, we examined Chinese community-dwelling older adults’ attitudes to deprescribing as well as individual-level correlates. Through the community-based health examination platform, we performed a cross-sectional study by personally interviews using the revised Patients’ Attitudes Towards Deprescribing (rPATD) questionnaire (version for older adults) in two communities located in Suzhou, China. We recruited participants who were at least 65 years and had at least one chronic condition and one prescribed medication.

Results

We included 1,897 participants in the present study; the mean age was 73.8 years (SD = 6.2 years) and 1,023 (53.9%) were women. Most of older adults had one chronic disease (n = 1,364 [71.9%]) and took 1–2 regular drugs (n = 1,483 [78.2%]). Half of the participants (n = 947, 50%) indicated that they would be willing to stop taking one or more of their medicines if their doctor said it was possible, and 924 (48.7%) older adults wanted to cut down on the number of medications they were taking. We did not find individual level characteristics to be correlated to attitudes to deprescribing.

Conclusions

The proportions of participants’ willingness to deprescribing were much lower than what prior investigations among western populations reported. It is important to identify the factors that influence deprescribing and develop a patient-centered and practical deprescribing guideline that is suitable for Chinese older adults.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03184-3.

Barriers and Enablers of Healthcare Providers to Deprescribe Cardiometabolic Medication in Older Patients: A Focus Group Study

Introduction

Benefits and risks of preventive medication change over time for ageing patients and deprescribing of medication may be needed. Deprescribing of cardiovascular and antidiabetic drugs can be challenging and is not widely implemented in daily practice.

Objective

The aim of this study was to identify barriers and enablers of deprescribing cardiometabolic medication as seen by healthcare providers (HCPs) of different disciplines, and to explore their views on their specific roles in the process of deprescribing.

Methods

Three focus groups with five general practitioners, eight pharmacists, three nurse practitioners, two geriatricians, and two elder care physicians were conducted in three cities in The Netherlands. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Directed content analysis was performed on the basis of the Theoretical Domains Framework. Two researchers independently coded the data.

Results

Most HCPs agreed that deprescribing of cardiometabolic medication is relevant but that barriers include lack of evidence and expertise, negative beliefs and fears, poor communication and collaboration between HCPs, and lack of resources. Having a guideline was considered an enabler for the process of deprescribing of cardiometabolic medication. Some HCPs feared the consequences of discontinuing cardiovascular or antidiabetic medication, while others were not motivated to deprescribe when the patients experienced no problems with their medication. HCPs of all disciplines stated that adequate patient communication and involving the patients and relatives in the decision making enables deprescribing. Barriers to deprescribing included the use of medication initiated by specialists, the poor exchange of information, and the amount of time it takes to deprescribe cardiometabolic medication. The HCPs were uncertain about each other’s roles and responsibilities. A multidisciplinary approach including the pharmacist and nurse practitioner was seen as the best way to support the process of deprescribing and address barriers related to resources.

Conclusion

HCPs recognized the importance of deprescribing cardiometabolic medication as a medical decision that can only be made in close cooperation with the patient. To successfully accomplish the process of deprescribing they strongly recommended a multidisciplinary approach.

Deprescribing Inappropriate Proton Pump Inhibitors in a Family Medicine Residency Practice Office

INTRODUCTION

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are often prescribed beyond their medically-approved duration of use. Long-term PPI use has been linked with numerous adverse effects and contributes to polypharmacy. This study sought to understand the effect of evidence-based education to resident and faculty physicians on deprescribing inappropriate PPIs. We hypothesized that this educational intervention would result in fewer inappropriate PPI prescriptions.

METHODS

We performed a chart review on all adult patients in a family medicine residency program practice, identifying those inappropriately taking PPIs. All physicians in the practice participated in an educational intervention regarding deprescribing inappropriate PPIs and were given frequent reminders to continue their deprescribing efforts. We reviewed charts at the end of the study to identify patients with successful deprescribing attempts.

RESULTS

Of the 187 patients prescribed inappropriate PPIs in the study, 100 remained on PPIs at the end of the study (46.6% success rate). There was a significant decrease in the number of patients inappropriately prescribed PPIs by each physician over the course of the study, from a mean of 17.0 (beginning) to 9.1 (end).

CONCLUSION

Physician education with reminders is an effective means of reducing the number of inappropriate PPIs prescribed in a family medicine residency practice. Future studies could investigate the effectiveness of educational interventions with other medication classes that are often prescribed inappropriately.

Deprescribing practice in a resource-limited setting: Healthcare providers' insights

AIMS

Inappropriate polypharmacy poses risks of adverse drug events, high healthcare costs and mortality. Deprescribing could minimise inappropriate polypharmacy and the consequences thereof. The aim of this study was to evaluate healthcare providers' (HCPs') attitudes toward and experiences with deprescribing practice in Ethiopia.

METHODS

We conducted an institution-based cross-sectional survey among HCPs at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia. We used a validated questionnaire developed by Linsky et al. The tool included questions that explore medication characteristics, current patient clinical factors, predictions of future health states, patients' resources to manage their own health and education and experience. One-way ANOVA was used to test the association between sociodemographic variables and their perception of deprescribing decisions.

RESULTS

Of 85 HCPs approached, about 82 HCPs completed the survey, giving a response rate of 96.5%. Most of the participants (n = 73, 89%) have scored less than 1.5 points showing they are reluctant to proactively deprescribe. Physicians seem to be affected by the significant physical health conditions (mean = 1.68) and clinical endpoint like blood pressure (mean = 1.5) to make deprescribing decisions. According to the post hoc analysis of one-way ANOVA, clinical pharmacists seemed to have a better attitude toward deprescribing decisions compared with physicians (P = .025).

CONCLUSION

HCPs' decision to discontinue a medication could be multifactorial. Physicians could be influenced by physical health condition and clinical endpoints for deprescribing decision. Future studies should emphasise on barriers and facilitators to deprescribing practice specific to the context in Ethiopia.

Electronic Medication Management System Introduction and Deprescribing Practice in Post-Acute Care

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of introducing an electronic medication management system (EMMS) on deprescribing practice in a post-acute hospital setting.

DESIGN

This study used a before-after study design.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

This study examined the admission and discharge medications prescribed to patients admitted to an Australian post-acute hospital before and after the introduction of an EMMS.

METHODS

Data were collected over a 1-month period before and after the introduction of an EMMS and included summary measures of drug burden including Potentially Inappropriate Medications and the Drug Burden Index. We calculated and compared admission and discharge medication prescription as well as change in medication use before and after the introduction of an EMMS.

RESULTS

Medication prescription data were available for 121 people before and 107 people after EMMS introduction. In both phases, when compared with admission, those discharged were prescribed fewer medications (mean reduction pre-EMMS = 2.9, P < .001, post-EMMS = 2.6, P < .001), fewer Potentially Inappropriate Medications (mean reduction pre-EMMS = 0.4, P < .001, post-EMMS = 0.6, P < .001) and had lower Drug Burden Index (mean reduction pre-EMMS = 0.1, P < .001, post-EMMS = 0.2, P < .001). The degree of reduction in each measure was similar before and after EMMS introduction.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The introduction of an EMMS did not affect deprescribing practice in a post-acute hospital setting. Future work is required to explore the potential for clinical decision support within an EMMS to further improve the safety and effectiveness of deprescribing within post-acute care.

Deprescribing for Community-Dwelling Older Adults: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Polypharmacy and use of inappropriate medications have been linked to increased risk of falls, hospitalizations, cognitive impairment, and death. The primary objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness, comparative effectiveness, and harms of deprescribing interventions among community-dwelling older adults.

METHODS

We searched OVID MEDLINE Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library from 1990 through February 2019 for controlled clinical trials comparing any deprescribing intervention to usual care or another intervention. Primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, hospitalizations, health-related quality of life, and falls. The secondary outcome was use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). Interventions were categorized as comprehensive medication review, educational initiatives, and computerized decision support. Data abstracted by one investigator were verified by another. We used the Cochrane criteria to rate risk of bias for each study and the GRADE system to determine certainty of evidence (COE) for primary outcomes.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight low and medium risk of bias clinical trials were included. Comprehensive medication review may have reduced all-cause mortality (OR 0.74, 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.95, I2 = 0, k = 12, low COE) but probably had little to no effect on falls, health-related quality of life, or hospitalizations (low to moderate COE). Nine of thirteen trials reported fewer PIMs in the intervention group. Educational interventions probably had little to no effect on all-cause mortality, hospitalizations, or health-related quality of life (low to moderate COE). The effect on falls was uncertain (very low COE). All 11 education trials that included PIMs reported fewer in the intervention than in the control groups. Two of 4 computerized decision support trials reported fewer PIMs in the intervention arms; none included any primary outcomes.

DISCUSSION

In community-dwelling people aged 65 years and older, medication deprescribing interventions may provide small reductions in mortality and use of potentially inappropriate medications.

REGISTRY INFORMATION

PROSPERO - CRD42019132420.

A nurse practitioner led protocol to address polypharmacy in long-term care

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Polypharmacy is common in long term care facilities and frequently associated with poor outcomes.

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A focus on decreasing polypharmacy as part of 60-day periodic review process in long term care facilities has the potential to improve resident outcomes and assist health care providers in improved medication management.

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To achieve success in decreasing polypharmacy, an interdisciplinary team with shared goals and communication is needed.

Polypharmacy is common in long term care facilities and frequently associated with poor outcomes. This study sought to determine if a medication management protocol completed at four month intervals by nurse practitioners (NP) could impact polypharmacy and administration times for long term care residents. The data was collected as part of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) “Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalization among Nursing Facility Residents” grant. Residents were recruited from participating long-term care facilities. NP completed a medication management protocol on admission to the program and at subsequent 4-month intervals or with an acute change in condition. A total of 2442 non-duplicated individuals were seen for at least 1 visit. Although the protocol did not result in a reduction of regularly scheduled medications, the number of scheduled medication administration times did significantly decrease. NP polypharmacy assessments and recommendations are important but were insufficient to decrease the medication burden.

Advancing the Science of Deprescribing: A Novel Comprehensive Conceptual Framework

Polypharmacy is common in older adults and associated with inappropriate medication use, adverse drug events, medication nonadherence, higher costs, and increased mortality compared with those without polypharmacy. Deprescribing, the clinically supervised process of stopping or reducing the dose of medications when they cause harm or no longer provide benefit, may improve outcomes. Although potentially beneficial, clinicians struggle to overcome structural, organizational, technological, and cognitive barriers to deprescribing, limiting its use in clinical practice. Deprescribing science would benefit from a unifying conceptual framework to prioritize research. Current deprescribing conceptual frameworks have made important contributions to the field but often with a focus on specific medication classes or aspects of deprescribing. To further this relatively nascent field, we developed a broader deprescribing conceptual framework that builds on prior frameworks and includes patient, prescriber, and system influences; the process of deprescribing; outcomes; and dissemination. Patient factors include patients' biology, experience, values, and preferences. Prescriber factors include rational (eg, based on explicit knowledge) and nonrational (eg, behavioral tendencies, biases, and heuristics) decision making. System factors include resources, incentives, goals, and culture that contribute to deprescribing. The framework separates the deprescribing decision from the deprescribing process. The framework captures the results of deprescribing by examining changes in clinical structures, performance processes, patient experience, health outcomes, and cost. Through testing and refinement, this novel, more comprehensive conceptual framework has the potential to advance deprescribing research by organizing the existing evidence, identifying evidence gaps, and categorizing deprescribing interventions and the settings in which they are applied. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:2018-2022, 2019.

Deprescribing for older adults in Australia: factors influencing GPs

Polypharmacy is increasing among older Australians, raising their risk of experiencing medication-related harm. As part of the prescribing continuum, deprescribing is a strategy proposed to reduce inappropriate polypharmacy. This study explored factors that influence deprescribing among Australian GPs using a new 21-item survey to measure GP attitudes and practices. The 85 GP responses indicated that many factors are supportive of deprescribing. GPs suggest that they are willing to explore their older patients' deprescribing preferences; they believe that they have enough information about the potential harms and benefits of medication to inform their deprescribing decisions and are confident to communicate this information to their patients. GPs did not consider their patients would interpret deprescribing as being 'given up on'. Limited time to review medications, poor communication between prescribers and a perception that other prescribers do not respect their role as overall coordinators of their older patients' medications were considered by respondents to be unsupportive of deprescribing. Overall, despite GPs reporting many supportive factors for deprescribing, the influence of unsupportive factors appears to remain strong, as deprescribing is not routinely considered in practice.

Attitudes towards deprescribing and the influence of health literacy among older Australians

Aim

This study aimed to explore attitudes, beliefs and experiences regarding polypharmacy and discontinuing medications, or deprescribing, among community living older adults aged ≥65 years, using ≥5 medications. It also aimed to investigate if health literacy capabilities influenced attitudes and beliefs towards deprescribing.

Background

Polypharmacy use is common among Australian older adults. However, little is known about their attitudes towards polypharmacy use or towards stopping medications. Previous studies indicate that health literacy levels tend to be lower in older adults, resulting in poor knowledge about medications.

Methods

A self-administered survey was conducted using two previously validated tools; the Patients’ Attitude Towards Deprescribing (PATD) tool to measure attitudes towards polypharmacy use and deprescribing and the All Aspects of Health Literacy Scale (AAHLS) to measure functional, communicative and critical health literacy. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted.

Findings

The 137 responses showed that 80% thought all their medications were necessary and were comfortable with the number taken. Wanting to reduce the number of medications taken was associated with concerns about the amount taken (P<0.001), experiencing side effects (P<0.001), or believing that one or more medications were no longer needed (P<0.000). Those who were using ten or more medications were more likely to want to reduce the number taken (P=0.019). Most (88%) respondents would be willing to stop medication/s in the context of receiving this advice from their doctor. Willingness to consider stopping correlated with higher scores on the critical health literacy subscale (P<0.021) and overall AAHLS score (P<0.009). Those with higher scores on the overall AAHLS measure were more likely to report that they understood why their medications were prescribed (P<0.000) and were more likely to participate in decision-making (P=0.027). Opportunities to proactively consider deprescribing may be missed, as one third of the respondents could not recall a recent review of their medications.

Health professionals' and researchers' opinions on conducting clinical deprescribing trials

While clinical deprescribing trials are increasingly being performed, there is no guidance on the optimum conduction of such studies. The aim of this survey was to explore the perspectives, attitudes, interests, barriers, and enablers of conducting clinical deprescribing trials among health professionals and researchers. An anonymous survey was developed, reviewed, and piloted by all investigators and informed by consultation with experts, as well as current deprescribing guidelines. The questions were formulated around current clinical trial frameworks and incorporated identified enablers and barriers of performing deprescribing studies. The survey was sent to members of Australian and international deprescribing, pharmacological, and pharmacy organizations, and other researchers published in deprescribing. A total of 96 respondents completed the survey (92.3% completion rate). Respondents indicated the main deprescribing trial rationale is to generate evidence to optimize patient-centered outcomes (79.2%). Common barriers identified included the time and effort required (18.2%), and apprehension of health professionals involved in trials (17.1%). Studies are enabled by positive attitudes toward deprescribing of treating prescribers (24.4%) and patients (20.9%). Classical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were deemed the most appropriate methodology (93.2%). Sixty percent of participants indicated a good clinical practice framework is required to guide the conduct of deprescribing trials. There were no significant differences in responses based on previous experience in conducting clinical deprescribing trials. In conclusion, clinical deprescribing trials should be conducted to investigate whether deprescribing medications improves patient care. A future deprescribing trial framework should use classical RCTs as a model, ensure participant safety, and target patient-centered outcomes.

Understanding the process of clinical judgement for pharmacists when making clinical decisions

Clinical decision-making is arguably the most important and underappreciated skill in pharmacy. It can be described as four discrete steps: information gathering, clinical reasoning and judgement and, the decision process. The information gathering and decision negotiation steps and to some extent clinical reasoning are addressed either implicitly or explicitly by practitioners and educators. Clinical judgement, however, remains a largely unexplored concept for clinical decision-making in healthcare therapeutics. It defines how practitioners arrive at a favourable treatment strategy and, due to the often complicated benefit:risk evaluations, is often linked with concepts relating to ambiguity. In this article, we use game theory to explore the judgement stage of clinical decision-making. Game theory allows us to provide a quantitative evaluation of clinical judgement and explore concepts such as ambiguity and its sources in healthcare. Clarifying the elements involved in the judgement stage of clinical decision-making will enable a better understanding of how pharmacists contribute patient care in healthcare teams.

Undiagnosing to prevent overprescribing

Health care focuses on controlling symptoms and managing risk factors to improve survival by avoiding future complications. Diagnoses describe a group of signs and symptoms, often implying specific aetiologies and underlying pathophysiological disease processes. The diagnosis provides a tool for the health professional to conceptualise and classify a presentation, and thus manage the condition, and can provide the patient with an explanation or validation of their experience. Not every diagnosis holds significant clinical implications. There are diagnosed conditions that do not require treatment and, moreover, where treatment has the potential for harm without the potential for benefit. Promoting investigations and diagnoses can lead to overdiagnosis related to vested interests in increased services, use of devices or therapeutics. Multiple factors drive this issue, including broadening disease definitions and cultural factors that encourage tests and treatments, as well as medicolegal factors. While the traditional medicine review process typically involved cross-referencing medicines used with current diagnoses, a more sophisticated version of this process critically reviews the medicines and associated diagnosis, giving less emphasis to diagnoses that are no longer relevant. Known as undiagnosis, this process facilitates the withdrawal of corresponding medicines used to manage those conditions. Systematically reviewing diagnoses regularly and the associated medicine management strategies could reduce prescribing. The novel ERASE process can help clinicians Evaluate diagnoses to consider Resolved conditions, Ageing normally and Selecting appropriate targets to Eliminate unnecessary diagnoses and their corresponding medicines.