Prevalence of Potentially Inappropriate Prescriptions According to the New STOPP/START Criteria in Nursing Homes: A Systematic Review

Person-centred medicine in the care home setting: development of a complex intervention

BACKGROUND

Person-centred medicine is recommended in the care of older patients. Yet, involvement of care home residents and relatives in medication processes remains limited in routine care. Therefore, we aimed to develop a complex intervention focusing on resident and relative involvement and interprofessional communication to support person-centred medicine in the care home setting.

METHODS

The development took place from October 2021 to March 2022 in the Municipality of Aarhus, Denmark. The study followed the Medical Research Council guidance on complex intervention development using a combination of theoretical, evidence-based, and partnership approaches. The patient involvement tool, the PREparation of Patients for Active Involvement in medication Review (PREPAIR), was included in a preliminary intervention model. Study activities included developing programme theory, engaging stakeholders, and exploring key uncertainties through interviews, co-producing workshops, and testing with end-users to develop the intervention and an implementation strategy. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Interprofessional Shared Decision Making Model were used. Data were analysed using a rapid analysis approach.

RESULTS

Before the workshops, six residents and four relatives were interviewed. Based on their feedback, PREPAIR was modified to the PREPAIR care home to fit the care home population. In total, ten persons participated in the co-producing workshops, including health care professionals and municipal managerial and quality improvement staff. The developed intervention prototype was tested for three residents and subsequently refined to the final intervention, including two fixed components (PREPAIR care home and an interprofessional medication communication template) delivered in a flexible three-stage workflow. Additionally, a multi-component implementation strategy was formed. In line with the developed programme theory, the intervention supported health care professionals´ awareness about resident and relative involvement. It provided a structure for involvement, empowered the residents to speak, and brought new insights through dialogue, thereby supporting involvement in medication-related decisions. The final intervention was perceived to be relevant, acceptable, and feasible in the care home setting.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicate that the final intervention may be a viable approach to facilitate person-centred medicine through resident and relative involvement. This will be further explored in a planned feasibility study.

Identification of Barriers for Active Disease Management and of Medication-Related Problems through Therapeutic Patient Education in Older Home-Care Patients

Combining therapeutic patient education (TPE) with a medication review service could foster the adoption of appropriate lifestyles by patients and support care-providers in identifying strategies to improve the quality of prescribed care. This study aimed to identify barriers experienced by patients in managing their diseases and medication-related problems. This was a monocentric, case series, observational study involving home-care patients from the Local Health Authority ASL TO4. Patients were enrolled for a TPE intervention where drug therapies and patient habits were collected through narrative interviews. Medication review was performed to identify potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs). Twenty patients (13 females) with a mean age of 74.7 years were enrolled. Patients had an average of 4.3 diseases and 80.0% of them were treated with ≥5 daily medications. The main PIPs involved ibuprofen, furosemide and pantoprazole. The qualitative analysis of the interviews identified seven macro-themes relating to different aspects of medication management: therapy; diseases; patient; patient journey; professionals; family and caregivers; drug information. The results of this study revealed some critical aspects related to the treatment path and healthcare professionals. These results will be used to plan educational interventions for polypharmacy patients to improve medication adherence and the understanding and management of diseases.

The current view of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) among older adults in Saudi Arabia: a systematic review

Introduction: Potentially inappropriate medications PIMs are common among elderly population and becoming a global health issue. It has been associated with negative health consequences like preventable adverse drug reactions, hospitalization and mortality. Objectives: To investigate the most commonly potentially inappropriate medications in older adults in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, we aim to gain insights into the typical healthcare settings where healthcare providers offer services related to PIMs. Methods: This is a systematic review design using Preferred Reporting Items Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. PubMed and Google Scholar were used to search for the relevant studies using the following keywords (older adults, elderly, potentially inappropriate medications, inappropriate medications, PMIs, Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) with no restrictions to the date of publications nor the study language. Results: Only 8 studies have met our inclusion and exclusion criteria, which was most of them were cross-sectional study design (n = 6.75%) and all of them have been conducted in hospital-based settings. In addition, the prevalence of PIMs ranged from 19% to 80% depends on the site and administration of the study. We have found that proton pump inhibitors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, aspirin, diuretics, gastrointestinal medications, and antidepressants were the most common reported PIMs in the included studies. Conclusion: The prevalence of PIMs among the elderly in Saudi Arabia is notably high ranged from 19% to 80%, underscoring the need for additional research to assess the existing practices within this vulnerable demographic across various healthcare settings.

Revisiting systematic reviews on deprescribing trials to better inform future practice and research

Deprescribing aims to address the problem of medication overuse in older adults. There has been an increasing number of systematic reviews of 'deprescribing'. We aimed to describe the categories of trials included in recent systematic reviews, and to make recommendations for future research. We categorized 122 trials included in eight recent deprescribing systematic reviews into: discontinuation, deprescribing implementation, medication optimisation (including medication initiation) and non-initiation trials. We identified heterogeneity and inconsistency in the categories of trials included in deprescribing systematic reviews. For example, 39 trials (32.0%) involved medication initiation in addition to the deprescribing component. It is now time for international researchers to develop and validate terminology used for trials involving discontinuation/deprescribing of medications, and to provide recommendations for evidence synthesis that will better inform future research, and translation into practice and policy.

Attitudes of Older Adult Patients and Caregivers Towards Deprescribing of Medications in Ethiopia

Background

Deprescribing is essential for reducing inappropriate medication use and polypharmacy. For a holistic approach, it is essential to know how older adult patients and their caregivers perceive deprescribing.

Objective

To assess the attitude of older adult patients and caregivers towards deprescribing medication at Ambo University Referral Hospital.

Methodology

Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted using the revised Patients' Attitude Towards Deprescribing tool (rPATD). The data was analyzed using the SPSS-25 software. Backward linear regression and logistic regression were used to measure association between outcome and determinant variables. The two-sided P-value ≤0.05 with 95% confidence interval was utilized for reporting significant factors.

Results

One hundred fifty-six (81.3%) of the respondents (ie, 85.0% of older adult and 77.2% of caregivers) agreed to stop one or more of their regular medications if the physician said it was possible despite 98 (51.0%) of them (ie, 49.0% of older adult and 53.3% of caregivers) being satisfied with their/their care recipient's medications. On the overall aggregate mean score, the respondents had a neutral position (2.6-3.59) regarding the burden and concerns of stopping medications whereas the majority of them disagree (1.0-2.59) with the inappropriateness of the medication they were taking and agreed (3.6-5.0) with the need for their involvement in treatment decision making. Concerns about stopping medicine scores (AOR = 0.440, 95% CI = 0.262-0.741, P = 0.035) and perceived levels of medication inappropriateness (AOR = 0.653, 95% CI = 0.456-0.936, P = 0.020) was significantly associated with the willingness to discontinue and overall satisfaction with their medicine regimen respectively.

Conclusion

The majority of older adult patients and caregivers would like to deprescribe if the physicians recommended it. The perceived concerns of stopping and inappropriateness of the medicines were associated with the willingness to deprescribe and overall satisfaction with their medicine respectively. Healthcare providers should prompt the deprescribing process with older adult patients and caregivers by addressing their concerns about stopping medications.