ArticleHealthcare policy = Politiques de sante2019
Policies for Deprescribing: An International Scan of Intended and Unintended Outcomes of Limiting Sedative-Hypnotic Use in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.
Article in Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Barriers and enablers for deprescribing benzodiazepine receptor agonists in older adults: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies using the theoretical domains framework.Implementation science : IS · 2022Pooled it
- "Safer supply is the thing that changes everything": the role of prescribed safer supply in rebuilding trust following experiences of medical abandonment.BMC public health · 2026Article
- "With this you're not chained down to something": contrasting experiences of opioid agonist treatment and safer supply program participation among people receiving prescribed safer supply.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Opioid deprescribing: rethinking policies to facilitate better patient outcomes.Pain management · 2025Review
- Sleep should not be this difficult: An interpretive descriptive study of older adults' perspectives on behaviour change elements in Sleepwell and experiences with benzodiazepine discontinuation.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- How can policies impact the relational process of deprescription? A realist review protocol with an initial theory.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A scoping review of motor vehicle operator performance assessments for benzodiazepine receptor agonists.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024Article
- Barriers, facilitators and needs to deprescribe benzodiazepines and other sedatives in older adults: a mixed methods study of primary care provider perspectives.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Strategies to guide the successful implementation of deprescribing in community practice: Lessons learned from the front line.Canadian pharmacists journal : CPJ = Revue des pharmaciens du Canada : RPC · 2024Article
- Comparing prevalence and types of potentially inappropriate medications among patient groups in a post-acute and secondary care hospital.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- A protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing Sleepwell, EMPOWER, and treatment-as-usual for benzodiazepine receptor agonist discontinuation in older adults: the your answers when needing sleep in New Brunswick (YAWNS NB) study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2022Article
- Incentivizing performance in health care: a rapid review, typology and qualitative study of unintended consequences.BMC health services research · 2022Review
- A narrative review of evidence to guide deprescribing among older adults.Journal of general and family medicine · 2021Review
- Impact of changes in controlled drugs legislation on benzodiazepine receptor agonist prescribing in Ireland: a repeated cross-sectional study.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2021Article
- Interrupted time series analysis using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models: a guide for evaluating large-scale health interventions.BMC medical research methodology · 2021Article
- A systems approach to identifying the challenges of implementing deprescribing in older adults across different health-care settings and countries: a narrative review.Expert review of clinical pharmacology · 2020Review
- Benzodiazepine and antipsychotic medication use in older adults.Nursing open · 2020Article
- Beyond Prescriptions Monitoring Programs: The Importance of Having the Conversation about Benzodiazepine Use.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Policies have been put in place internationally to reduce the overuse of certain medications that have a high risk of harm, such as sedative-hypnotic drugs for insomnia or opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. We explore and compare the outcomes of policies aimed at deprescribing sedative-hypnotic medication in community-dwelling older adults. Prescription monitoring policies led to the highest rate of discontinuation but triggered inappropriate substitutions. Financial deterrents through insurance scheme delistings increased patient out-of-pocket spending and had minimal impact. Pay-for-performance incentives to prescribers proved ineffective. Rescheduling alprazolam to a controlled substance raised the street drug price of the drug and shifted use to other benzodiazepines, causing similar rates of overdose deaths. Driving safety policies and jurisdiction-wide educational campaigns promoting non-drug alternatives appear most promising for achieving intended outcomes and avoiding unintended harms. Sustainable change should be supported with direct-to-patient education and improved access to non-drug therapy, with an emphasis on evaluating both intended and unintended consequences of any deprescribing-oriented policy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.