Appropriate Medication Use in Dutch Terminal Care — AMUSE  

Quality of Life Clinical Trial

Official title: Appropriate Medication USE in Dutch Terminal Care: AMUSE Trial

Status Recruiting

Clinical Trial Summary

The AMUSE trial is a multicentre stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial where medication optimization of patients with a life expectancy of less than three months is investigated by using CDSS-OPTIMED (a personalized medication advice to attending physicians of patients in the last phase of life) The investigators will include 250 patients, in 7 different study sites across the Netherlands. The primary outcome is an assessment of the quality of life of patients, two weeks after baseline assessment.

Clinical Trial Description

Rationale: patients in the last phase of life often use many medications that are continued until shortly before they die. This is partly inevitable, because these patients often experience multiple distressing symptoms. However, for a considerable number of medications currently often used at the end of life, the benefit is debatable, e.g. because they are aimed at the long-term prevention of illness.

Primary objective: to examine whether the use of CDSS-OPTIMED, a personalized medication advice to attending physicians of patients in the last phase of life, contributes to patients' quality of life.

Main study endpoints: the primary endpoint is patients' quality of life two weeks after baseline assessment, as measured by the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL questionnaire (scale 0 to 100).

Potential risks and benefits associated with participation: the intervention in this trial supports physicians in using available evidence and knowledge when deprescribing medication for patients in the last phase of life. The intervention does not involve experimental treatment or medication. The investigators expect no other risks than known side effects of (stopping) medications. The investigators are aware that the trial population concerns vulnerable people who may experience fluctuating symptoms and levels of suffering across their disease trajectory. The investigators acknowledge the risk of overburdening participants. If patients feel burdened by participating in the study, they are encouraged to indicate that. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Medication Therapy Management
• Palliative Care
• Quality of Life
• Terminal Care

• NCT number: NCT05351281
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Erasmus Medical Center
• Contact: Marte van Hylckama Vlieg, MD
• Phone: +31648857686
• Email: m.vanhylckamavlieg@erasmusmc.nl
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 29, 2022
• Completion date: August 2024