Abstract
Background
Polypharmacy is prevalent among long-term care (LTC) residents and can cause significant morbidity. In 2018, we concluded a deprescribing pilot study that reduced potentially inappropriate medication use among LTC residents.
Aim
We sought to understand the experience and views of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, LTC residents and family members who participated in the pilot study.
Method
Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents and families, a physician, pharmacist and pharmacy student, and licensed-practical nurses. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach.
Results
Interviews with 13 participants yielded themes in 3 categories: (1) views about medication use in LTC and willingness to engage in deprescribing, (2) perceived barriers and enablers for deprescribing, and (3) impact of participating in deprescribing study. Participants were willing to engage in deprescribing; residents were motivated by physician suggestions, and family members prioritized quality of life in decision-making and wanted to be part of the decision-making process. Solutions to overcome barriers included assigning responsibility to identify deprescribing opportunities to pharmacists, scheduling rounds to enable face-to-face team discussions, and consulting families to provide missing medical history to inform deprescribing decisions. Participating in a deprescribing intervention resulted in improved healthcare professional (HCP) confidence and interprofessional collaboration, and caused continued practice change after the study.
Conclusion
Residents, families, and HCPs are concerned about problems associated with polypharmacy in LTC and are willing to consider deprescribing. Barriers to deprescribing in LTC exist but are not insurmountable. Results provide valuable insight into strategies to optimize deprescribing interventions within LTC.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Masnoon N, Shakib S, Kalisch-Ellett L, et al. What is polypharmacy? A systematic review of definitions. BMC Geriatr. 2017;17:230.
Gnjidic D, Hilmer SN, Blyth FM, et al. Polypharmacy cutoff and outcomes: five or more medicines were used to identify community-dwelling older men at risk of different adverse outcomes. J Clin Epidemiol. 2012;65:989–95.
Johnell K, Klarin I. The relationship between number of drugs and potential drug-drug interactions in the elderly. Drug Saf. 2007;30:911–8.
Morin L, Johnell K, Laroche M-L, et al. The epidemiology of polypharmacy in older adults: register-based prospective cohort study. Clin Epidemiol. 2018;10:289–98.
Pereira KG, Peres MA, Iop D, et al. Polypharmacy among the elderly: a population-based study. Rev Bras Epidemiol. 2017;20:335–44.
Page AT, Falster MO, Litchfield M, et al. Polypharmacy among older Australians, 2006–2017: a population-based study. Med J Aust. 2019;211:71–5.
Institute LOWAN. Medication overload: America’s other drug problem, how the drive to prescribe is harming older adults. LOWN Institute. 2019. https://lowninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/medication-overload-lown-web.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2022.
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Drug use among seniors in Canada. 2016. Ottawa (ON). 2018. https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/drug-use-among-seniors-2016-en-web.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2022.
Thompson W, Farrell B. Deprescribing: what is it and what does the evidence tell us? Can J Hosp Pharm. 2013;66:201–2.
Britton ML, Lurvey PL. Impact of medication profile review on prescribing in a general medicine clinic. Am J Hosp Pharm. 1991;48:265–70.
Thompson J. Deprescribing in palliative care. Clin Med (Lond). 2019;19:311–4.
Todd A, Holmes H, Pearson S, et al. ‘I don’t think I’d be frightened if the statins went’: a phenomenological qualitative study exploring medicines use in palliative care patients, carers and healthcare professionals. BMC Palliat Care. 2016;15:13.
Balsom C, Pittman N, King R, et al. Impact of a pharmacist-administered deprescribing intervention on nursing home residents: a randomized controlled trial. Int J Clin Pharm. 2020;42:1153–67.
Sawan M, Reeve E, Turner J, et al. A systems approach to identifying the challenges of implementing deprescribing in older adults across different health-care settings and countries: a narrative review. Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2020;13:233–45.
Loganathan M, Singh S, Franklin BD, et al. Interventions to optimise prescribing in care homes: systematic review. Age Ageing. 2011;40:150–62.
Sawan M, Kouladjian O’Donnell L, Hilmer SN. Perspectives of residential aged care facilities’ staff on the identification and recording of residents’ medication-related goals of care. Australas J Ageing. 2020;39:e134–44.
Sirois C, Ouellet N, Reeve E. Community-dwelling older people’s attitudes towards deprescribing in Canada. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2017;13:864–70.
Reeve E, Shakib S, Hendrix I, et al. Development and validation of the patients’ attitudes towards deprescribing (PATD) questionnaire. Int J Clin Pharm. 2013;35:51–6.
Reeve E, Low L-F, Shakib S, et al. Development and validation of the Revised Patients’ Attitudes Towards Deprescribing (rPATD) questionnaire: versions for older adults and caregivers. Drugs Aging. 2016;33:913–28.
Schiøtz ML, Frølich A, Jensen AK, et al. Polypharmacy and medication deprescribing: a survey among multimorbid older adults in Denmark. Pharmacol Res Perspect. 2018;6:e00431.
Galazzi A, Lusignani M, Chiarelli MT, et al. Attitudes towards polypharmacy and medication withdrawal among older inpatients in Italy. Int J Clin Pharm. 2016;38:454–61.
Reeve E, Wolff JL, Skehan M, et al. Assessment of attitudes toward deprescribing in older medicare beneficiaries in the United States. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178:1673–80.
Reeve E, Wiese MD, Hendrix I, et al. People’s attitudes, beliefs, and experiences regarding polypharmacy and willingness to deprescribe. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2013;61:1508–14.
Kalogianis MJ, Wimmer BC, Turner JP, et al. Are residents of aged care facilities willing to have their medications deprescribed? Res Social Adm Pharm. 2016;12:784–8.
Jia Hao L, Omar MS, Tohit N. Polypharmacy and willingness to deprescribe among elderly with chronic diseases. Int J Gerontol. 2018;12:340–3.
Qi K, Reeve E, Hilmer SN, et al. Older peoples’ attitudes regarding polypharmacy, statin use and willingness to have statins deprescribed in Australia. Int J Clin Pharm. 2015;37:949–57.
Palagyi A, Keay L, Harper J, et al. Barricades and brickwalls – a qualitative study exploring perceptions of medication use and deprescribing in long-term care. BMC Geriatr. 2016;16:15.
Castleberry A, Nolen A. Thematic analysis of qualitative research data: is it as easy as it sounds? Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2018;10:807–15.
Thompson W, Jacobsen IT, Jarbøl DE, et al. Nursing home residents’ thoughts on discussing deprescribing of preventive medications. Drugs Aging. 2020;37:187–92.
Reeve E, Low L-F, Hilmer SN. Beliefs and attitudes of older adults and carers about deprescribing of medications: a qualitative focus group study. Br J Gen Pract. 2016;66:e552–60.
Weir K, Nickel B, Naganathan V, et al. Decision-making preferences and deprescribing: perspectives of older adults and companions about their medicines. J Gerontol: Series B. 2018;73:e98–107.
Clyne B, Cooper JA, Boland F, et al. Beliefs about prescribed medication among older patients with polypharmacy: a mixed methods study in primary care. Br J Gen Pract. 2017;67:e507–18.
Zechmann S, Trueb C, Valeri F, et al. Barriers and enablers for deprescribing among older, multimorbid patients with polypharmacy: an explorative study from Switzerland. BMC Fam Pract. 2019;20:64.
Burghle A, Lundby C, Ryg J, et al. Attitudes towards deprescribing among older adults with limited life expectancy and their relatives: a systematic review. Drugs Aging. 2020;37:503–20.
Kuntz J, Kouch L, Christian D, et al. Barriers and facilitators to the deprescribing of nonbenzodiazepine sedative medications among older adults. Perm J. 2018;22:17–57.
Tjia J, Kutner JS, Ritchie CS, et al. Perceptions of statin discontinuation among patients with life-limiting illness. J Palliat Med. 2017;20:1098–103.
Chia HS, Bek ESJ. Deprescribing in primary care in Singapore: barriers and facilitators. Consult Pharm. 2018;33:637–48.
Goyal P, Anderson T, Bernacki GM, et al. Physician perspectives on deprescribing cardiovascular medications for older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2020;68:78–86.
Djatche L, Lee S, Singer D, et al. How confident are physicians in deprescribing for the elderly and what barriers prevent deprescribing? J Clin Pharm Ther. 2018;43:550–5.
Gillespie R, Mullan J, Harrison L, et al. Deprescribing for older adults in Australia: factors influencing GPs. Aust J Prim Health. 2019;24:463–9.
Holmes HM, Todd A. The role of patient preferences in deprescribing. Clin Geriatr Med. 2017;33:165–75.
Foley R-A, Hurard LL, Cateau D, et al. Physicians’, nurses’ and pharmacists’ perceptions of determinants to deprescribing in nursing homes considering three levels of action: a qualitative study. Pharm (Basel). 2020;8:E17.
AlRasheed MM, Alhawassi TM, Alanazi A, et al. Knowledge and willingness of physicians about deprescribing among older patients: a qualitative study. Clin Interv Aging. 2018;13:1401–8.
Kua C-H, Mak VS, Lee SWH. Perspectives of health professionals towards deprescribing practice in Asian nursing homes: a qualitative interview study. BMJ Open. 2019;9:e030106.
Sun W, Tahsin F, Barakat-Haddad C, et al. Exploration of home care nurse’s experiences in deprescribing of medications: a qualitative descriptive study. BMJ Open. 2019;9:e025606.
Lundby C, Graabæk T, Ryg J, et al. “…Above all, it’s a matter of this person’s quality of life”: health care professionals’ perspectives on deprescribing in older patients with limited life expectancy. Gerontologist. 2020;60:439–49
Luymes CH, van der Kleij RMJJ, Poortvliet RKE, et al. Deprescribing potentially inappropriate preventive cardiovascular medication: barriers and enablers for patients and general practitioners. 50. Ann Pharmacother: SAGE Publications Inc; 2016. pp. 446–54.
Lundby C, Graabæk T, Ryg J, et al. Health care professionals’ attitudes towards deprescribing in older patients with limited life expectancy: a systematic review. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2019;85:868–92.
Wouters H, Scheper J, Koning H, et al. Discontinuing inappropriate medication use in nursing home residents: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167:609–17.
Westbury JL, Gee P, Ling T, et al. RedUSe: reducing antipsychotic and benzodiazepine prescribing in residential aged care facilities. Med J Aust. 2018;208:398–403.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the staff, residents, and families of residents at St. Patrick’s Mercy Home, Lawton’s Nursing Home services, and the pharmacy students from Memorial University School of Pharmacy for their support and participating in this study.
Funding
This project was funded by a Memorial University, School of Pharmacy Undergraduate Summer Student Research Project award.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rowe, S., Pittman, N., Balsom, C. et al. Beliefs and attitudes of residents, family members and healthcare professionals regarding deprescribing in long-term care: a qualitative study. Int J Clin Pharm 44, 1370–1379 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-022-01419-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-022-01419-2