SynthesisDrugs & aging2026
Bridging the Gap: Systematic Review of Strategies to Facilitate Post-Discharge Continuity of In-Hospital Medication Changes in Older Adults.
Synthesis in Drugs & aging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the 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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Development and validation of the Patient Involvement in Medication Communication at Hospital discharge Questionnaire (PIMCH-Q).Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn-hospital medication changes are a key component of healthcare of older adults. It is important to employ strategies to ensure continuity of changes post-discharge.
objectiveThis systematic review aimed to summarise (i) strategies that have been investigated to facilitate post-discharge continuity of in-hospital medication changes in older adults and (ii) their impact on continuity of medication changes and clinical, health service utilisation and patient-reported outcomes.
methodsMEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched (1946-20/03/2024) to identify strategies that facilitate post-discharge continuity of hospital medication changes and assess their impact on continuity, health service utilisation, and clinical and patient-reported outcomes post-discharge in older adults (mean/median age ≥60 years).
resultsAfter screening 800 articles, 49 met inclusion criteria, including 25 quasi-experimental studies, 14 randomised controlled trials, four cohort studies, four observational studies, one case series, and one retrospective case note review and audit. Strategies commonly involved providing discharge medication lists to patients and/or their general practitioners (36/49 studies, 73.5%), discharge counselling (28/49, 57.1%) and medication reconciliation (28/49, 57.1%). Most studies used multi-component strategies (39/49, 79.6%) by multi-disciplinary teams (28/49, 57.1%). Twenty-six of the 36 studies (68.4%) assessing the impact of strategies on continuity reported significant improvements in continuity-related outcomes. Thirteen out of the 21 studies (61.9%) that measured medication discrepancies (most common measure of continuity) reported significant reductions following strategy implementation. One out of 11 studies (9.1%) reported a significant improvement in clinical outcomes, while none of the 13 studies found significant improvements in health service utilisation outcomes. Two of three studies investigating patient-reported quality of life reported significant improvements.
conclusionsStrategies focus on communicating medication changes to patients, general practitioners and community pharmacists by multi-disciplinary hospital clinicians. There is evidence of a positive impact of multi-component strategies delivered by a multi-disciplinary team on continuity of medication changes and quality of life post-discharge. Future analyses investigating strategy complexity and cost effectiveness may inform their translation into practice.
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Registered trials
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