SynthesisBMJ open2025
Role of informal carers in medication management for people with long-term conditions: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Challenges and Strategies of Informal Caregivers in Medication Management for Older Adults: A Mixed Method Systematic Review.International journal of older people nursing · 2026Pooled it
- A randomised trial of a psychoeducational intervention to improve home care safety for informal caregivers.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- The Feasibility and Acceptability of a Collaborative Deprescribing Intervention to Reduce Anticholinergic Burden Among Hospitalised Older Patients.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2026Article
- A qualitative exploration of informal carers' experiences with medication management and accessing community pharmacy support for people with long-term conditions.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Observation and Prevention of Caregiver-Related Medication Errors in Community Pharmacies: A Cross-Sectional Study Across Urban, Town, and Rural Settings.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Patient Adherence to Therapy: Findings from a Qualitative Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Analysis of medication literacy status and influencing factors of family caregivers for old people with traumatic hip fractures.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Managing medications together: a qualitative study of collaboration between primary and secondary caregivers of older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- A Qualitative Exploratory Study of Families' Experiences and Recommended Strategies to Improve the Medication Management of Older Adults During Transitions of Care.Drug, healthcare and patient safety · 2026Article
- Realist review of informal carer involvement in the transition of medicines-related care for patients moving from hospital to home.BMJ open · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo explore the literature about the role of unpaid informal carers in medication management for people with long-term conditions.
designSystematic review designed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. INFORMATION SOURCE: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), PsycINFO, Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature (EBSCO), Scopus and Web of Science were searched from inception until April 2024. Additional papers were identified by searching backwards and forwards the reference lists of included papers. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Primary research studies were included if they reported medication-related activities undertaken by carers for people with long-term conditions. Qualitative and mixed methods studies were considered without restriction on language or country. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Relevant data were extracted and summarised in a table. The Mixed Method Appraisal Tool was used for quality assessment. Data were narratively synthesised.
resultsFrom 12 473 identified records, 107 underwent full text screening and 20 studies were included. Family carers were the predominant type of carer. Spouses and adult children constituted the largest caregiving dyads. Based on the required skills, two groups of roles were identified: physical roles, such as prescription management, and cognitive roles, such as decision-making. Carers used different strategies and tools to undertake medication-related activities including compliance aids and alarms. However, carers reported challenges in their experiences of caregiving, flagging up their need for additional support and education to commence such activities.
conclusionInformal carers undertake a wide variety of medication-related activities. The studies emphasised the need to support families as partners in health outcomes. This systematic review identifies the importance of bridging the gap between carers and healthcare providers. More efforts are needed to empower carers towards better and safer caregiving. Future work could address how to optimise carer involvement and engagement and provide best practice recommendations for carers' support. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024506694.
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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.