Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26942907›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2016

Deprescribing in Frail Older People: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Kathleen Potter, Leon Flicker, Amy Page, Christopher Etherton-Beer

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 99 papers, 28 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
99citing papers in PubMed, 28 pooled it
15.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
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.

NCT03501108 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2018, after this paper: background citation

Medication Rationalization for Older People Awaiting Long-term Nursing Home Care: a Randomized Controlled Trial Using the STOPPfrail Criteria

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity College CorkRan2018 to 2019Enrolled160ConditionsPolypharmacy, Frail Elderly Syndrome, Inappropriate Prescribing, Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsArmsSTOPPFrail deprescribing criteria
NCT05454644 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2018, after this paper: background citation

Effectiveness of a Person-centred Prescription Model in Hospitalised Geriatric Patients at the End of Life

TypeinterventionalSponsorMatia FoundationRan2018 to 2021Enrolled114ConditionsEnd-Of-Life, Inappropriate Prescribing, Deprescriptions, Palliative MedicineArmsPerson-Centred Prescription Model
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

99 citing papers in PubMed, 28 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 248 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Interventions for preventing falls in older people in care facilities.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Withdrawal of antihypertensive drugs in older people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Guideline
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Pooled it
  13. Pooled it
  14. Consumer Attitudes Towards Deprescribing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2022
    Pooled it
  15. Pooled it
  16. Pooled it
  17. Pooled it
  18. Pooled it
  19. Pooled it
  20. Pooled it

39 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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 at 1 institution in 1 country.

Kathleen PotterSchool of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Leon FlickerSchool of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Amy PageSchool of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Christopher Etherton-BeerSchool of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
University of Western Australia · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesDeprescribing has been proposed as a way to reduce polypharmacy in frail older people. We aimed to reduce the number of medicines consumed by people living in residential aged care facilities (RACF). Secondary objectives were to explore the effect of deprescribing on survival, falls, fractures, hospital admissions, cognitive, physical, and bowel function, quality of life, and sleep.

methodsNinety-five people aged over 65 years living in four RACF in rural mid-west Western Australia were randomised in an open study. The intervention group (n = 47) received a deprescribing intervention, the planned cessation of non-beneficial medicines. The control group (n = 48) received usual care. Participants were monitored for twelve months from randomisation. Primary outcome was change in the mean number of unique regular medicines. All outcomes were assessed at baseline, six, and twelve months.

resultsStudy participants had a mean age of 84.3 ± 6.9 years and 52% were female. Intervention group participants consumed 9.6 ± 5.0 and control group participants consumed 9.5 ± 3.6 unique regular medicines at baseline. Of the 348 medicines targeted for deprescribing (7.4 ± 3.8 per person, 78% of regular medicines), 207 medicines (4.4 ± 3.4 per person, 59% of targeted medicines) were successfully discontinued. The mean change in number of regular medicines at 12 months was -1.9 ± 4.1 in intervention group participants and +0.1 ± 3.5 in control group participants (estimated difference 2.0 ± 0.9, 95%CI 0.08, 3.8, p = 0.04). Twelve intervention participants and 19 control participants died within 12 months of randomisation (26% versus 40% mortality, p = 0.16, HR 0.60, 95%CI 0.30 to 1.22) There were no significant differences between groups in other secondary outcomes. The main limitations of this study were the open design and small participant numbers.

conclusionsDeprescribing reduced the number of regular medicines consumed by frail older people living in residential care with no significant adverse effects on survival or other clinical outcomes.

trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12611000370909.

Indexed as

Frail ElderlyPolypharmacyAgedAged, 80 and overAlgorithmsDrug PrescriptionsFemaleHumansKaplan-Meier EstimateMaleMortalityPatient AdmissionQuality of LifeSleepSurveys and QuestionnairesWestern Australia

Identifiers

PMID26942907
PMCPMC4778763
OpenAlexW2288614434

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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.