Online psychotropic medication review
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An online tool (HealthTrackerTM) to support psychotropic medication review for people with intellectual disability: feasibility study in community psychiatry of intellectual disability teams
IRAS ID
244866
Contact name
Angela Hassiotis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2018/05/96, Data protection registration
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Medication must be used rationally in order to maximize benefits, reduce medication-related harms, and avoid waste. This process is known as medication optimization. It is a priority for the NHS and supported by national guidance. Central to medication optimization is medication review, a process of critically evaluating medication use ideally conducted in conjunction with the patient and their carers. Methods of medication review vary greatly. At present there is little evidence to guide how medication review should be conducted.
In intellectual (learning) disability psychiatry, there has been particular concern about the appropriate use of medication for mental health. Our work has demonstrated high rates of prescribing these medications, increased risks of adverse medication side-effects in those with intellectual disability, and dissatisfaction of family carers with current processes of medication prescribing and review.
An online system has been developed that supports psychiatrists to conduct thorough review of medicine for mental health, including input from patients and carers. This system, called HealthTracker, has mainly been used with children and adolescents. We wish to test if it is possible to extend the use of HealthTracker to NHS psychiatry teams that provide care to adults with intellectual disability.
This project (a feasibility study) is funded by the National Institute of Health Research and is the first step in seeing whether the HealthTracker is effective. We will investigate if it is possible to recruit clinicians and clinical services to the project, and if we can identify and recruit enough people with intellectual disability who take medication for mental health to take part. How the system works in practice and what users think will be assessed. The results will tell us if it is possible to test HealthTracker in a future trial where the benefits of the system are compared with care as usual.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1112
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion