Adaptation of a deprescription intervention to the medication management of older people living in long-term care facilities.

Objectives

Inappropriate prescription is a problem related to aging and deprescription could be a possible strategy. The aim of this study was to adapt the available evidence on deprescribing to the medication management of older people living in long-term care facilities.

Methods

The authors carried out a bibliographic search based on the most prevalent drugs in our context to develop a specific deprescribing intervention. A committee of experts reviewed this intervention which was later validated through an interobserver variability study. Finally, the authors evaluated it in a sample of patients through a controlled before-after study.

Results

The authors included 119 subjects living in a public elderly long-term care center and 122 controls living in a center with similar clinical characteristics. The authors evaluated 852 medications, identifying a total of 175 (20.5%) potentially inappropriate medications and 162 (92.5%) drugs were deprescribed (1.4 per patient). The application of the intervention meant an annual saving of 9.525.25 €.

Conclusion

The implementation of a deprescribing intervention aimed at the most prevalent drugs prescribed in a particular setting improves the appropriateness of pharmacotherapy in the patients.