ArticleJournal of bioethical inquiry2016
The Ethics of Deprescribing in Older Adults.
Article in Journal of bioethical inquiry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Optimizing Medication Use in Older Adults in Primary Care: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Deprescribing Interventions.Geriatrics & gerontology international · 2026Pooled it
- Deprescribing in cardiometabolic conditions in older patients: a systematic review.GeroScience · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of the evidence for deprescribing interventions among older people living with frailty.BMC geriatrics · 2021Pooled it
- Evidence for deprescription in primary care through an umbrella review.BMC family practice · 2020Pooled it
- Evaluating the Safety of an Educational Deprescribing Intervention: Lessons from the Optimize Trial.Drugs & aging · 2024Trial
- Ethical Aspects of Physician Decision-Making for Deprescribing Among Older Adults With Dementia.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Designing Implementable Deprescribing Recommendations: A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Professional Perspectives.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Attitudes and barriers towards deprescribing in older patients experiencing polypharmacy: a narrative review.npj aging · 2024Review
- Patients' attitudes toward deprescribing and their experiences communicating with clinicians and pharmacists.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2022Article
- Ethical Tenets of PRN Medicines Management in Healthcare Settings: A Clinical Perspective.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Patient harm from cardiovascular medications.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2021Review
- How many older adults receive drugs of questionable clinical benefit near the end of life? A cohort study.Palliative medicine · 2019Article
- Health professionals' and researchers' opinions on conducting clinical deprescribing trials.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2019Article
- Barriers and Facilitators of Conducting Medication Reviews in Nursing Home Residents: A Qualitative Study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2019Article
- The deprescribing rainbow: a conceptual framework highlighting the importance of patient context when stopping medication in older people.BMC geriatrics · 2018Article
- Adequate, questionable, and inadequate drug prescribing for older adults at the end of life: a European expert consensus.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2018Article
- Deprescribing medications for older adults in the primary care context: A mixed studies review.Health science reports · 2018Article
- Poly-de-prescribing to treat polypharmacy: efficacy and safety.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2018Article
- Which Lane Should We Be In?Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Deprescribing is the term used to describe the process of withdrawal of an inappropriate medication supervised by a clinician. This article presents a discussion of how the Four Principles of biomedical ethics (beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice) that may guide medical practitioners' prescribing practices apply to deprescribing medications in older adults. The view of deprescribing as an act creates stronger moral duties than if viewed as an omission. This may explain the fear of negative outcomes which has been reported by prescribers as a barrier to deprescribing. Respecting the autonomy of older adults is complex as they may not wish to be active in the decision-making process; they may also have reduced cognitive function and family members may therefore have to step in as surrogate decision-makers. Informed consent is intended as a process of information giving and reflection, where consent can be withdrawn at any time. However, people are rarely updated on the altered risks and benefits of their long-term medications as they age. Cessation of inappropriate medication use has a large financial benefit to the individual and the community. However, the principle of justice also dictates equal rights to treatment regardless of age.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27416980What OpenQuestion holds
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.