Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28184303›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice2017

Deprescribing medicines in the acute setting to reduce the risk of falls.

Vanessa Marvin, Emily Ward, Alan J Poots, Katie Heard, Arvind Rajagopalan, Barry Jubraj

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 1 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

26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Review
  4. Observational
  5. Article
  6. Prevalence of fall risk-increasing drugs in older adults presenting with falls to the emergency department.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2023
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  7. Article
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  11. Co-designing an intervention to improve the process of deprescribing for older people living with frailty in the United Kingdom.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Using pharmacy dispensing data to predict falls in older individuals.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2021
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  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Vanessa MarvinDepartment of Pharmacy , Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK.
Emily WardDepartment of Pharmacy , Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK.
Alan J PootsNIHR CLAHRC NWL , Imperial College London , London , UK.
Katie HeardDepartment of Pharmacy , Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK.
Arvind RajagopalanSchool of Medicine, Imperial College London , London , UK.
Barry JubrajNIHR CLAHRC NWL, Imperial College London, London, UK; Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFalls are a common cause of morbidity and hospitalisation in older people. Inappropriate prescribing and polypharmacy contribute to falls risk in elderly patients. This study's aim was to quantify the problem and find out if medication review in the hospital setting led to deprescribing of medicines associated with falls risk.

methodsAdmissions records for elderly patients were examined to identify those whose presenting complaint included a fall. Inpatient medication charts, pharmaceutical care notes, medical notes and discharge summaries were examined to identify any falls-risk medicines from admission histories and to determine if any medication review took place, and whether or not changes were made as a result. In particular deprescribing and dose reduction details were analysed.

results100 patients over 70 years old were admitted following a fall during the 2 months study period. The mean number of medicines on admission was 6.8 per patient with polypharmacy found in 62/100 (62%). One or more falls-risk medicine was found in 65/100 (65%) patients. Medicines review was carried out in 86/100 (86%) of patients, and 59/697 (8.5%) medicines were deprescribed. Pharmacist involvement in medication review led to a significant reduction in the number of falls-risk medicines per patient (p=0.002).

conclusionsInappropriate prescribing and polypharmacy are found frequently in elderly patients at admission following a fall. Comprehensive medicines reviews should be carried out in all such patients with the objective of deprescribing or reducing doses to minimise risk of harm. Involvement of a pharmacist improves the rate of reduction of falls-risk medicines.

Indexed as

CLINICAL PHARMACYdeprescribingFallshospitalmedication reviewquality improvement

Identifiers

PMID28184303
PMCPMC5284469

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Registered trials

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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.