A Trial to De-prescribe Inappropriate Medications in the Community Dwelling Elderly (D-PRESCRIBE)

January 23, 2018 updated by: Cara Tannenbaum, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal

Developing Pharmacist-led Research to Educate and Sensitive Community Residents to the Inappropriate Prescription Burden in the Elderly

The objective of this trial is to test the beneficial effect of a pharmacist-initiated knowledge transfer intervention to both patients and prescribers on the discontinuation of inappropriate prescriptions, compared to usual care. The investigators hypothesize that the pharmacist-led intervention will reduce inappropriate prescriptions by at least 20% over 6-months compared to usual care. The intervention consists of simultaneously educating consumers and providing physicians with an evidence-based pharmaceutical opinion on inappropriate prescriptions.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
600

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

65 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Men and women 65 years of age and older (no upper age limit)
  • Individuals for whom prescription claims derive from only one pharmacy identifier
  • Chronic consumption (> 3 month claims) of one of the target inappropriate prescriptions. (benzodiazepine/non benzodiazepine hypnotic, long-acting sulfonylurea oral hypoglycemic agents, anticholinergic agents (in the form of first-generation antihistamines) or Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs] )
  • Patients who are willing to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A probable diagnosis of dementia (persons without the capacity to provide informed consent), as determined by a) a prescription for memantine or a cholinesterase inhibitor; b) report from a caregiver or family-member; or c) a baseline screening score on the Folstein Mini-Mental State Exam < 24
  • Inability to understand and or communicate in English and/or French
  • Patients living in a long-term care facility
  • Concomitant use of any antipsychotic medication

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Pharmacist-led educational intervention
Participants will receive an educational brochure on an inappropriate prescription they are currently taking from their pharmacists. Participants' physicians will receive an evidence-based pharmaceutical opinion for the same medication.
Behavioral: Pharmacist-led educational intervention
1) Educational material to participants in the form of a written educational brochure on inappropriate prescriptions that was developed and tested during the EMPOWER study. 2) Evidence-based pharmaceutical opinions sent to the treating physicians.
No Intervention: Control
Participants in the control group will be wait-listed and observed for 6 months prior to receiving the intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Complete discontinuation of inappropriate prescriptions.
Time Frame: 6 months
Provincial prescription insurance claims will be used to measure whether the inappropriate prescription has been discontinued in the intervention and control group at 6-months. Prescription data contain information on all dispensed prescriptions including drug name, dispensation date, dosage, drug form, duration and quantity of the drug dispensed, as well as the license number of the physician who wrote the prescription. Discontinuation of an inappropriate prescription will be defined as the lack of a claims renewal for that medication during a minimum of three or more consecutive months (with no subsequent renewals) during the nine months following receipt of the intervention.
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The frequency, timing and type of pharmaceutical opinions sent by the pharmacist to the patient's primary care physician.
Time Frame: 6 months
The occurrence and delivery date of any pharmaceutical opinion sent to the patient's physician will be ascertained by the presence of a pharmacist billing claim recorded within 6 months after randomization of pharmacies to the intervention group. The type of opinion (evidence-based example provided by the research team vs customized by the pharmacist) will be ascertained by obtaining a photocopied paper copy of the pharmaceutical opinion from the patient's pharmacy record at the end of the trial (by law, the pharmacist must keep a copy in the patient's dossier). The dates of the paper copy will be matched to the date of the billing registered in the billing database to validate that the latter relates to the drug under study.
6 months
Effect of the pharmaceutical opinion on the prescriber's behaviour.
Time Frame: 6 months
Pharmacists will be provided with a "study response card" to accompany any pharmaceutical opinion sent to a physician for study patients with inappropriate prescriptions. The "response card" will ask the physician to endorse one of the following three options: 1) I agree with the proposed recommendation and have signed the prescription recommendation you have provided to discontinue or substitute the inappropriate prescription 2) I will discuss with the patient at the next visit; or 3) no change required. The physician will be asked to fax back the response card to the pharmacist. A copy of all response cards received by the pharmacist will be collected by the research team at the end of the trial. The pharmacist will also be asked whether the physician acknowledged the pharmaceutical opinion in any other way. Lack of acknowledgment of the pharmaceutical opinion by the physician will be coded as a non-response.
6 months
Patient-physician encounters to discuss inappropriate prescriptions.
Time Frame: 6 months
Patient visits to their primary care provider within the 6-months post-intervention will be ascertained by physician billing claims. Visits to physicians where discussions about inappropriate prescriptions occurred will be determined by patient self-report during the 6-month semi-structured telephone follow-up interview by asking whether patients met with their physician to discuss their prescriptions and what happened during these encounters. We will also query any phone call discussions with physician on this subject and conversations with pharmacists to discuss prescription changes.
6 months

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in risk perception around inappropriate prescriptions
Time Frame: Baseline, 6 months
Baseline and post-intervention evaluation of participant's, pharmacist's and physician's beliefs about the risks associated with certain inappropriate prescriptions, as listed on the Beers Criteria of inappropriate medication in the elderly.
Baseline, 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Cara Tannenbaum, MD, MSc, Centre de recherche de l'institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montreal

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 31, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 31, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 3, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 25, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 23, 2018

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • CIHR 201303MOP-299872-KTR

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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