Deprescriptions, Frailty Syndrome, Medication Overuse, Polypharmacy
Conditions
Brief summary
Polypharmacy is a common and growing public health concern across healthcare settings worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of inappropriate prescribing and adverse drug events. Deprescribing-defined as the supervised withdrawal of potentially inappropriate medications using structured tools and clinical judgment-has been proposed as a strategy to improve prescribing safety. In Greece, formal initiatives and evidence evaluating deprescribing interventions in primary care remain limited. This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of an educational intervention for general practitioners (GPs) on prescribing safety in primary care. Participating GPs are randomized in an approximately 1:1 ratio to an intervention or control arm. GPs in the intervention arm receive structured education and training on medication review and deprescribing, including the use of validated deprescribing tools such as the Beers Criteria. GPs in the control arm provide usual care and do not receive any educational intervention. Patients receiving care from participating GPs are recruited, and prescribing outcomes are assessed at the patient level. The primary outcome is change in prescription medications following the intervention, comparing patients cared for by GPs in the intervention arm versus those cared for by GPs in the control arm.
Interventions
OTHERMedication Reviews and Deprescribing
General Practitioners will be given training and education in deprescribing algorithms and the conduction of medication reviews with the use of validated deprescribing tools such as the Beers Criteria.
Sponsors
University of Crete
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* community-dwelling patients * Age ≥ 65 years * Receive at least 5 medication ( polypharmacy )
Exclusion criteria
* hospitalized or patients living in nursing home * Incapable of giving written consent
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Potentially Inappropriate Medication | 1 years | Determine if there is reduction in potentially Inappropriate medication after a deprescribing education intervention |
| Number of medications | 1 year | Determine if there is reduction in number of medications after a deprescribing education intervention |
Countries
Greece
Contacts
STUDY_CHAIRIoanna Tsiligianni, MD, PhD
Associate Professor in General Practice and Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, University of Crete
Outcome results
None listed