Benzodiazepine Deprescribing
Conditions
Keywords
Benzodiazepines, Deprescribing, Community setting, Older adults
Brief summary
The goal of this feasibility study is to evaluate the feasibility of an intervention, led by the pharmacist, aiming at benzodiazepines and z-drugs deprescribing in older adults living in the Belgian community setting. The main questions it aims to answer are: * To what extent will Belgian community pharmacists adhere to the intervention? * To what extent will patients and general practitioners take up the intervention to deprescribe benzodiazepines and z-drugs? * To what extent is the design of the recruitment and data collection process feasible and acceptable for all participants? Participants will receive an educational brochure from their pharmacist. Their pharmacist will also propose to send a new standardized form to their general practitioner to enhance collaboration about a potential benzodiazepine deprescribing. Researchers will compare this intervention to usual care to see if the intervention is feasible and to gather first data on intervention effectiveness in benzodiazepine deprescribing.
Interventions
OTHEREND-IT intervention for the community setting
The intervention was described in the arm/group descriptions.
Sponsors
EBPracticenet
Fonds National de la Recherche scientifique (FNRS)
Université Catholique de Louvain
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* being aged ≥65 years, * taking a benzodiazepine receptor agonist for ≥4 weeks (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical codes: N05BA, N05CD, N05CF and N03AE01) * being a regular patient of the community pharmacy (defined as ≥ 4 visits/12 previous months).
Exclusion criteria
* Severe mental illness (assessed through having an active prescription of any antipsychotic medication). * Dementia or significant cognitive impairment (assessed through an active prescription or any past prescription during the last 12 months of anticholinesterase inhibitors or memantine) and/or pharmacist's judgment). * Patients unable to read or communicate in French. * Ongoing benzodiazepine receptor agonist withdrawal at the time of recruitment. * Known current alcohol withdrawal.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility of the data collection process | At 6 months | The feasibility of the data collection process will be assessed through the quality of the collected data (rate of missing data). |
| Pharmacists' adherence to the intervention | At 3 months | Has the intervention been implemented as intended? (e.g: global number of implemented intervention components) |
| Participants' responsiveness | At 3 months | How far participants (pharmacists, patients, and general practitioners) have responded to the intervention and have been engaged by the intervention: e.g. number of altered prescriptions). |
| Feasibility of the recruitment process | At 6 months | The feasibility of the recruitment will be assessed (e.g. the ratio between the number of included patients and patients contacted for participation). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Contextual factors potentially influencing the intervention effects at the patient-level. | At baseline | Use of a questionnaire to assess factors that could explain potential differences in intervention implementation between patients. |
| Contextual factors potentially influencing the intervention effects at the pharmacist-level. | At baseline | Use of a questionnaire to assess factors that could explain potential differences in intervention implementation between pharmacies. |
| Mechanisms of impact potentially influencing the intervention | At baseline | Use a questionnaire to assess mechanisms of impact in relation with how the intervention is supposed to have its effects. |
| Exploratory benzodiazepine deprescribing rate analysis | At 3 months | Defined as benzodiazepine reduction or cessation at 6 months |
Countries
Belgium
Contacts
Primary ContactCatherine Pétein, RN, MPH
Outcome results
None listed