Unlocking Deprescribing Potential in Nursing Homes: Insights from a Focus Group Study with Healthcare Professionals.

BACKGROUND: The nursing home population is characterized by multimorbidity and disabilities, which often result in extensive prescription of medication and subsequent polypharmacy. Deprescribing, a planned and supervised process of dose reduction or total cessation of medication, is a solution to combat this. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify barriers and enablers of deprescribing as experienced by nursing home physicians (NHPs) and collaborating pharmacists in the specific nursing home setting. METHODS: This qualitative study utilized a semi-structured interview format with two focus groups consisting of a mix of NHPs and pharmacists. Directed content analysis was performed based on the Theoretical Domains Framework, a validated framework for understanding determinants of behavior change among health care professionals. RESULTS: Sixteen health care professionals participated in two focus groups, including 13 NHPs and three pharmacists. The participating NHPs and pharmacists believed that deprescribing is a valuable process with enablers, such as multidisciplinary collaboration, good communication with patients and family, and involvement of the nursing staff. NHPs and pharmacists view deprescribing as a core task and feel assured in their ability to carry it out successfully. However, they also noted barriers: deprescribing is time-consuming; communication with residents, their relatives or medical specialists is difficult; and electronic patient systems often do not adequately support it. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into the various barriers and enablers faced by NHPs and pharmacists when deprescribing in nursing homes. Specific for this population, deprescribing barriers focus on communication (with residents and their relatives, and also with medical specialists) and resources, while knowledge and expertise are mentioned as enablers.

The impact of polypharmacy on 30-day COVID-related mortality in nursing home residents: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: Both the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease and polypharmacy pose a serious threat to nursing home (NH) residents. This study aimed to assess the impact of polypharmacy on 30-day COVID-related mortality in NH residents with COVID-19. METHODS: Multicenter retrospective cohort study including NH residents from 15 NHs in the Netherlands. The impact of polypharmacy on 30-day COVID-related mortality was evaluated and assessed using multivariable logistic regression analyses with correction for age, sex, CCI, BMI and vaccination status. RESULTS: In total, 348 NH residents were included, with a mean age of 84 years (SD = 8); 65% were female, 70% lived in a psychogeriatric ward, with a main diagnosis of dementia. 30-day COVID-related mortality was 27.3%. We found a significant, positive association between the total number of medications and 30-day COVID-related mortality (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.001-1.20, p = 0.046), after adjustment for age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), Body Mass Index (BMI) and vaccination status. After additional correction for dementia (model 2) and use of PPI, vitamin D, antipsychotics and antithrombotics (model 3), this effect remained positive, but was no longer significant. CONCLUSION: Nursing home residents with a higher number of medications and who were not vaccinated, had a higher 30-day COVID-related mortality. These findings have important implications for the management of COVID-19 in the frail NH population. As such they underline the importance of deprescribing on the one hand, but also of improving vaccination rates on the other.

Deprescribing Statins and Proton Pump Inhibitors in Nursing Home Residents; a Pragmatic Exploratory Study.

INTRODUCTION: Polypharmacy is common in the frail nursing home population and associated with an increased risk of adverse events, unplanned hospitalizations, and increased all-cause mortality. Deprescribing using a deprescribing algorithm might reduce unnecessary polypharmacy. This exploratory study was performed to determine the effect of this implicit deprescribing algorithm in deprescribing statins and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in nursing home residents. METHOD: Multicenter, longitudinal, single-arm exploratory study. All participants received the same deprescribing intervention to identify and deprescribe potentially inappropriate statins and/or PPIs. Residents across 10 nursing homes in the Netherlands were included if they used a statin and/or PPI. Residents in hospices or short-stay wards were excluded. The intervention involved a deprescribing algorithm in which nursing home physicians identified and, if possible, deprescribed potentially inappropriate statins and/or PPIs. RESULTS: Sixty-seven residents participated in the study. At 3 months, deprescribing was successful in 52% of the residents. Six months after the intervention, all these residents still had their medication sustainably deprescribed. CONCLUSION: Based on this study, deprescribing statins and PPIs using an implicit deprescribing algorithm is possible in a considerable number of nursing home residents.