Older Adults' Readiness to Stop Prescribed Medications

NCT ID: NCT05996237

Last Updated: 2025-01-09

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Total Enrollment

108 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-09-21

Study Completion Date

2024-12-31

Brief Summary

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Polypharmacy, regular use of 5+ prescribed medications, is common among older adults and potentially harmful. Patients differ in their concern about medications, comfort in raising questions about them, and trust and confidence in physician judgment. This pilot observational research will determine older adults' readiness to "deprescribe," that is, stop prescribed medications under physician guidance.

Detailed Description

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The purpose of this research is to assess readiness to deprescribe, that is, to determine how willing patients are to stop prescriptions that may no longer be necessary or may no longer have a favorable benefit-risk ratio. This readiness depends on many factors, including a patient's trust in a health care provider, how proactive patients are in seeking care, and patients' comfort in changing longstanding medical regimens.

The proposed two-wave survey research will use validated instruments and recruit from an older adult research registry to determine (i) readiness to deprescribe at baseline, (ii) correlates of such readiness, and (iii) effects of intercurrent illness and changing health on readiness to deprescribe at 6 months.

Specific aims:

1. Determine readiness to deprescribe among a sample of patients with 5+ prescriptions using validated scales.
2. Determine correlates of readiness to deprescribe. Patients differing in age, gender, race, education, and comorbidity may differ in willingness to stop prescribed medications.
3. Determine the effect of intercurrent illness on readiness to deprescribe. Over 6 months, we anticipate some patients will have a new onset of illness or hospitalization, or increasing levels of disability. We would like to determine if these changes in medical status affect readiness to deprescribe.

Conditions

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Polypharmacy, Decision-making

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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Registry participants

Participants in the University of Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Center community research registry. Potential participants will have stable regimens of 5+ prescribed medications and recent physician contact but no hospitalization in the prior 6 months.

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. 65 years or older
2. Medical visit within past 6 months
3. Self-report of at least 5 regular medications for at least 4 weeks

Exclusion Criteria

1. Diagnosis of dementia or score \<=4 on Memory Impairment Screen
2. Hospitalization in prior 30 days with change in medications
Minimum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Pittsburgh

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Steven M. Albert

Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Other Identifiers

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STUDY23060137

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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