SynthesisBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2018
Identification of behaviour change techniques in deprescribing interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 8 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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Identifying effective behavior change techniques in interventions for enhancing the implementation of school-based policies and/or practices to prevent chronic disease in students: a secondary analysis of a systematic review.Translational behavioral medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Medication-related interventions to improve medication safety and patient outcomes on transition from adult intensive care settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ quality & safety · 2022Pooled it
- Theory-Based Self-Management Interventions for Community-Dwelling Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association · 2022Pooled it
- Deprescribing Interventions among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations.PharmacoEconomics · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of health information technology on prescribing errors in hospitals: a systematic review and behaviour change technique analysis.Systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Evidence for deprescription in primary care through an umbrella review.BMC family practice · 2020Pooled it
- Identification of behaviour change techniques in deprescribing interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2018Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Family Conferences to Facilitate Deprescribing in Older Outpatients With Frailty and With Polypharmacy: The COFRAIL Cluster Randomized Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Tailoring a complex intervention to reduce antidepressants in institutionalized older persons with dementia.BMC health services research · 2022Trial
- Advancing sustainable medication use in healthcare: a Delphi study on (de)prescribing interventions.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Tailoring an Implementation Strategy for Deprescribing as Part of a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (dCGA) in Long-Term Care Facilities: A Roundtable Discussion.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2026Article
- Polypharmacy, determinants, and adverse outcomes in elderly patients with heart failure: a multicenter retrospective cohort study of 7,361 subjects.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Development of a Deprescribing Intervention for Proton Pump Inhibitors in Primary Care: A Co-Design Approach With General Practitioners and Patients.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Article
- Article
- Defining, identifying and addressing problematic polypharmacy within multimorbidity in primary care: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Article
- Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medicine use in older adults with cancer: a multicenter cross-sectional study in Northwest Ethiopia oncologic centers.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsDeprescribing interventions safely and effectively optimize medication use in older people. However, questions remain about which components of interventions are key to effectively reduce inappropriate medication use. This systematic review examines the behaviour change techniques (BCTs) of deprescribing interventions and summarizes intervention effectiveness on medication use and inappropriate prescribing.
methodsMEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Academic Search Complete and grey literature were searched for relevant literature. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included if they reported on interventions in people aged ≥65 years. The BCT taxonomy was used to identify BCTs frequently observed in deprescribing interventions. Effectiveness of interventions on inappropriate medication use was summarized in meta-analyses. Medication appropriateness was assessed in accordance with STOPP criteria, Beers' criteria and national or local guidelines. Between-study heterogeneity was evaluated by I-squared and Chi-squared statistics. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration Tool for randomized controlled studies.
resultsOf the 1561 records identified, 25 studies were included in the review. Deprescribing interventions were effective in reducing number of drugs and inappropriate prescribing, but a large heterogeneity in effects was observed. BCT clusters including goals and planning; social support; shaping knowledge; natural consequences; comparison of behaviour; comparison of outcomes; regulation; antecedents; and identity had a positive effect on the effectiveness of interventions.
conclusionsIn general, deprescribing interventions effectively reduce medication use and inappropriate prescribing in older people. Successful deprescribing is facilitated by the combination of BCTs involving a range of intervention components.
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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.