Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32219538›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2020

Prescribing medications of questionable benefit prior to death: a retrospective study on older nursing home residents with and without dementia in Germany.

Christian Rausch, Falk Hoffmann

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 26% 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.

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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. [Health status of older people in long-term inpatient care-a narrative review].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
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

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Christian RauschDepartment of Health Services Research, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstraße 140, 26129, Oldenburg, Germany. c.p.rausch@umcg.nl.
Falk HoffmannDepartment of Health Services Research, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstraße 140, 26129, Oldenburg, Germany.
Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWe studied the prevalence of medications of questionable benefit in the last 6 months of life among older nursing home residents with and without dementia in Germany.

methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted on claims data from 67,328 deceased nursing home residents aged 65+ years who were admitted between 2010 and 2014. We analyzed prescription regimens of medications of questionable benefit in the 180-91-day period and the 90-day period prior to death for residents with dementia (n = 29,052) and without dementia (n = 38,276). Factors associated with new prescriptions of medications of questionable benefit prior to death were analyzed using logistic regression models among all nursing home residents and stratified by dementia.

resultsA higher proportion of nursing home residents with dementia were prescribed at least one medication of questionable benefit in the 180-91-day (29.6%) and 90-day (26.8%) periods prior to death, compared with residents without dementia (180-91 days, 22.8%; 90 days, 20.1%). Lipid-lowering agents were the most commonly prescribed medications. New prescriptions of medications of questionable benefit were more common among residents with dementia (9.8% vs. 8.7%). When excluding anti-dementia medication, new prescriptions of these medications were more common among residents without dementia (6.4% vs. 8.0%). The presence of dementia (odds ratio [OR] 1.40, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.32-1.48) and excessive polypharmacy were associated with new prescriptions of medications of questionable benefit prior to death (OR 4.74, 95%CI 4.15-5.42).

conclusionEven when accounting for anti-dementia prescriptions, the prevalence of nursing home residents with dementia receiving medications of questionable benefit is considerable and may require further attention.

Indexed as

Nursing HomesAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesDementiaDrug PrescriptionsFemaleGermanyHumansInappropriate PrescribingMalePolypharmacyPrescription DrugsPrevalenceRetrospective StudiesPrescription DrugsDementiaInappropriate medicationsInstitutionalizationPalliative carePolypharmacy

Identifiers

PMID32219538
PMCPMC7239800
OpenAlexW3013628415

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.