Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40267306›Full record

ArticleAge and ageing2025

Development of a core outcome set for clinical trials targeting interventions aiming to improve adherence to appropriate polypharmacy in older people-an international consensus study.

Hanadi Al Shaker, Heather Barry, Carmel Hughes

Abstract readConsensus Statement
In one paragraph

Article in Age and ageing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Observational
  2. 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

3 authors.

Hanadi Al ShakerSchool of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom.ORCID 0009-0008-4814-6179
Heather BarrySchool of Pharmacy, Medical Biology Centre, Queen's University Belfast , Belfast, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-9684-8182
Carmel HughesSchool of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMedication non-adherence is prevalent in older people taking polypharmacy. Several interventions have been employed to improve adherence in this population. However, inconsistencies in outcomes have impeded comparisons of findings. Accordingly, this work aimed to develop a core outcome set (COS) for use in trials aiming to improve adherence to appropriate polypharmacy in older people.

methodsA group of stakeholders, including academics, journal editors, healthcare professionals (HCPs) and public participants, evaluated 13 outcomes compiled from the literature in a Delphi study using a nine-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 9, where higher scores (7-9) indicated critical importance and lower scores (1-3) unimportance. The resultant Delphi consensus list was discussed and voted on (yes: critical and no: unimportant) in two online nominal group technique (NGT) meetings. The NGT followed a five-stage approach: introduction, silent generation, round-robin, clarification and voting. An outcome was included if ≥80% of participants scored it critical and ≤ 15% scored it as unimportant.

resultsOf the 13 outcomes originally presented to participants, consensus was achieved to include six outcomes in the COS after the Delphi study (Round 1, n = 57; Round 2, n = 53; Round 3, n = 50, where 'n' represents participant numbers) and the NGT meetings (n = 10) comprising medication adherence across multiple medications, treatment burden, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), healthcare utilisation (HCU), adverse events and side effects (AEs and SEs) and cost-effectiveness.

conclusionThis COS should be used in intervention studies focusing on improving adherence to appropriate polypharmacy in older people. Future work should identify outcome measurement instruments to be used alongside the COS.

Indexed as

Clinical Trials as TopicMedication AdherencePolypharmacyAgedAge FactorsDelphi TechniqueHumansadherencecore outcome setolder peopleoutcomespolypharmacy

Identifiers

PMID40267306
PMCPMC12017393

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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.