Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25128076›Full record

Trial reportEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2014

Effects of "Fit fOR The Aged" (FORTA) on pharmacotherapy and clinical endpoints--a pilot randomized controlled study.

Carina Michalek, Martin Wehling, Jeanina Schlitzer, Helmut Frohnhofen

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

37 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  17. FORTA Score and Negative Outcomes in Older Adults: Insights from Italian Internal Medicine Wards.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Carina MichalekGeriatric Clinic and Center for Geriatric Medicine, Knappschafts-Krankenhaus, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Teaching Hospital of the University Duisburg-Essen, Am Deimelsberg 34a, 45276, Essen, Germany.
Martin Wehling
Jeanina Schlitzer
Helmut Frohnhofen

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe feasibility of applying the Fit fOR The Aged (FORTA) list, a drug classification combining positive and negative labeling of drugs, should be studied in geriatric patients and medication quality and clinical endpoints measured. FORTA labels range from A (indispensable), B (beneficial), C (questionable) to D (avoid).

methodsA prospective randomized controlled pilot trial was performed in hospitalized geriatric patients in whom the FORTA instrument or standard care was applied. Patients were randomly admitted to an intervention and a control ward. Changes of FORTA label distributions between admission and discharge, over- and under-prescription rates, clinical endpoints including the number of falls during the hospitalization, and Barthel Index (BI) at admission and discharge were measured.

resultsPolypharmacy persisted in both groups. At discharge, a higher rate of A drugs was prescribed in the intervention group (58 patients, median age 84 years) vs. standard care (56 patients, median age 83 years, p < 0.02), and both over- and under-prescriptions were significantly lower in the FORTA than in the control group (p < 0.03). Two (3.4%) intervention, but 12 (21.4%) control, patients fell at least once (p < 0.001). The fall rate per 1,000 patient years was 1.5 ± 8.3 in the intervention and 10.6 ± 25.4 in the control group (p < 0.004).

conclusionsThis pilot study shows that the application of the FORTA list is feasible in geriatric patients. In this small study, the medication quality improved in the intervention group, but polypharmacy persisted in both groups. The fall rate was significantly lower in the intervention group. These encouraging results must be interpreted carefully.

Indexed as

PolypharmacyAccidental FallsAgedAged, 80 and overFeasibility StudiesHospitalizationHumansInappropriate PrescribingPatient DischargePilot ProjectsPractice Patterns, Physicians'Prescription DrugsProspective StudiesPrescription Drugs

Identifiers

PMID25128076

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.