Trial reportEuropean geriatric medicine2026
Effectiveness of a pharmacist-led deprescribing intervention in older inpatients: an implementation study with retrospective control group.
Trial report in European geriatric medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03698487 (Pharmacist Led Intervention to Improve Medication Use in Older In-patients Living With Frailty), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
Pharmacist Led Intervention to Improve Medication Use in Older In-patients Living With Frailty: the Drug Burden Index
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Anticholinergic Medication Use in Veterans Affairs Long-Term Care Residents: Clinical Patterns and Opportunities for Deprescribing.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTo determine the effectiveness of integrating a web-based tool into hospital pharmacist medication optimization activities on high-risk medication use and explore implementation.
methodsAn implementation study with retrospective control group. The intervention consisted of multi-step pharmacist-led medication review using The Drug Burden Index (DBI) Calculator© implemented on four wards. Patients aged ≥ 70 years admitted on one or more medications with anticholinergic or sedative properties were eligible to participate. Primary outcome was change in DBI score and secondary outcomes included safety (adverse drug withdrawal events), feasibility (pharmacist time) and fidelity (whether intervention elements were conducted). Implementation was explored through mixed methods: post-intervention interviews with participants/caregivers, pharmacists and prescribers, and subgroup analyses.
resultsData were analyzed from 148 retrospective control and 40 intervention participants. Participants were median 79 (interquartile range = 12) years old and 61% were female. A meaningful reduction in DBI score (≥ 0.5) occurred in 23% (9/40) of intervention versus 6% (9/158) of control group (p = 0.003). No adverse drug withdrawal events occurred in the intervention group. Pharmacists took an average of 68 min to complete all intervention elements. Interviews (n = 13) confirmed that the DBI Calculator© supported deprescribing although several barriers remained, including a need for incorporation of tools into the electronic medical record and protected time for pharmacists on the wards for clinical activities.
conclusionIntegrating The DBI Calculator© into pharmacist-led medication reviews supported deprescribing efforts and was effective at reducing the DBI score in older hospital inpatients. Further research is required to explore widespread implementation and sustainability.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT03698487, registered 2018-10-09.
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Registered trials
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