Cholinergic Antagonists clinical trials

DBI - Tool for Medication Reviews in Older People

Older people often use medications with anticholinergic or sedative side effects which increase the risk of falling, fractures caused by falls and cognitive impairment. In the Netherlands, medication reviews are done by pharmacists in collaboration with the general practitioner to optimize medication use and reduce these adverse drug events. To maximize the benefits of medication reviews it is helpful to identify patients with high risk medication, yet few appropriate tools are available The Drug Burden Index (DBI) designed in Australia, calculates anticholinergic and sedative drug burden. This study evaluates whether the DBI can be used to identify patients with anticholinergic and sedative medication in need of a medication review. A clustered randomized controlled intervention study will be conducted. Per pharmacy (cluster), one pharmacist will perform the medication reviews. In each pharmacy, one half of eligible patients will be randomly allocated to the control group and the other half in the intervention group. Data will be collected at baseline and at follow-up, 3 months after the medication review has taken place. The study population includes community-dwelling patients aged ≥ 65, with polypharmacy (≥ 5 medications) and a DBI value ≥ 1 (n = 190) selected by 10 community pharmacists. The intervention consists of a structured 5-step multidisciplinary medication review (STRIP method) as described in the multidisciplinary guidelines of Dutch General Practitioners performed by the pharmacist in collaboration with the general practitioner. The main endpoint is the difference in proportion of patients having a decrease of the DBI ≥ 0.5 between the intervention and control group at 3 months follow up. Secondary outcomes are anticholinergic side effects, risk of falls, cognitive function, function of daily activity, hospital admission and mortality. All participants will be informed about the study and asked to provide informed consent. Data will be processed confidentially. Only the researcher will have access to the data. If required, the Dutch Inspection of Healthcare will also be granted access to the data for Inspection. The burden of patients will be kept at a minimum by trying to retrieve as much information as possible from patient's medical records and by using questionnaires and tests that were specifically developed for this population. In the investigators opinion, participation does not involve risks.