Team Approach to Polypharmacy Evaluation and Reduction (TAPER)

McMaster University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Medication Therapy Management; Comorbidity

Treatments: Other: TAPER program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT02562352

TAPER-001-19-Aug-15

Details and patient eligibility

About

In an aging population, most seniors suffer from multiple chronic conditions. When the number of medications taken is ≥5 (polypharmacy), the burden of taking so many together can do more harm than good. This study will test a program focused on medication reduction involving patient, pharmacist and physician using current technology aimed at reducing the harms of polypharmacy. Reducing the risk of adverse effects from drugs or the interactions between them involves prioritizing the most important ones according to the patient's preference and stopping those which may no longer be necessary. Reducing the dose also reduces the risk of drug side effects. Patients, aged over 69 years taking ≥5 medications, will randomly receive the program immediately or at 6 months. The program involves information gathering from the patient, medication review with the pharmacist and then a consultation with the family doctor focused on discontinuing/reducing the dose of medications where possible using a 'pause and monitor' framework to assess the need for restart. An electronic program that detects drug adverse effects and flags potentially inappropriate medications will be integrated into a clinical pathway incorporating monitoring and follow up systems. This study will examine effects on patient and health relevant outcome measures as well as patients' and clinicians' experiences of the program. The results will be used to determine whether this system can be implemented as part of routine preventative care in older adults.

Full description

Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive the intervention at study start or delayed appointment 6 months later. The intervention includes initial baseline data collection from the patient including data on demographics, medications, and illness characteristics. The patient will then attend an appointment with a pharmacist to review medications appropriate for discontinuation/dose reduction, after which the patient will meet with his/her family physician to discuss patient preferences for discontinuation/dose reduction. Follow up appointments will take place at one week, 3 months and 6 months (study end). Questionnaires and a semi-structured interview will take place at the 6 month appointment. After six months, the control group will be offered the intervention.

Enrollment: 38 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 70+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 70 years of age or older
• Participating family doctor as most responsible provider
• Patient of McMaster Family Health Team
• Currently taking 5 or more medications
• Have not had a recent comprehensive medication review
• Patient consents

Exclusion criteria

• English language or cognitive skills inadequate to understand and respond to rating scales
• Terminal illness or other circumstance precluding 13 month study period

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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38 participants in 2 patient groups

TAPER program

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention arm is comprised of: 1. Identification of medications that are appropriate for discontinuation/dose reduction. 2. Linked pharmacist/family physician consultations with patient to discuss medication discontinuation/dose reduction.

Treatment:

Other: TAPER program

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Standard of Care as wait list control