Elderly Patients' perspectives on deprescribing. Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring The Perspectives Of Elderly Patients On Deprescribing: A Qualitative Study
IRAS ID
280134
Contact name
Simon White
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Keele University
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The ageing population coupled with increasing chronic health conditions puts people at higher risk of harm related to medicines. Elderly patients are more susceptible to this due to decreasing renal function, increased likelihood of interactions and synergistic effects of multiple medications. This has established the process of deprescribing.
Deprescribing identifies a medication which is no longer of benefit. Examples include legacy prescriptions which have not been reviewed and medication where the benefit has become outweighed by the risk of harm.
There is a lack of qualitative evidence about patients' perspectives of deprescribing and therefore this study looks to address this gap in order to build and extend on the current research. Understanding patients' perspectives around this process will enable healthcare professionals to provide a more tailored approach based on a better understanding of patients’ beliefs and ideas around deprescribing. Some quantitative evidence has been established that seems to suggest that patients are overall happy to have their medications deprescribed.
The study will involve drawing a sample of patients and will involve conducting a single semi structured interview with each patient. This will be conducted within an NHS Trust in order to discuss deprescribing with elderly patients which meet a specific eligibility criteria.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
20/NI/0161
Date of REC Opinion
2 Dec 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion