Reduction of Low-value Prescribing Through Audit and Feedback (AFFAP)

May 11, 2026 updated by: Mikel Baza Bueno, Basque Health Service

AFFAP Trial: The Comparative Evaluation of Audit and Feedback-based De-implementation Strategies to Reduce Low-value Prescribing in Primary Care in Patients Over 65 Years of Age.

The objective is to estimate the effect attributable to a primary care pharmacist-led audit and feedback (AF) strategy compared to the currently used AF strategy as a management tool to evaluate healthcare performance focusing on processes and outcomes, for reducing the rate of patients over 65 years of age with potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) of benzodiazepines, proton pump inhibitors and opioids.

A closed-cohort stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial will be conducted in nine PC centres from Barakaldo-Sestao Integrated Health Organization, Basque Health Service (Osakidetza). All health centre clusters will start under the control condition, and after an initial study period of 4 months in the control phase, one centre per step at 1-month intervals will be randomly assigned to crossover to the intervention, under which they will be exposed to an additional component of AF, namely, primary care pharmacist-led facilitation.

Mixed-methods analysis will be performed, gathering quantitative data to assess the results of the implementations at health centre and clinician levels, and qualitative data to assess the feasibility and perceived impact of the de-implementation strategies from the clinicians' perspective, and explore the experience and satisfaction of patients regarding the healthcare received.

This study will provide useful knowledge on the effect attributable to a more intensive AF strategy (facilitated AF) compared to standard procedures of AF reports, and of the characteristics of AF that are most effective.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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 (Estimated)

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.
540

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.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Spain
    • Bizkaia
      • Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain, 48903
        • Primary Care Research Unit of Bizkaia

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

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

PRIMARY CARE CENTERS IN THE BARAKALDO-SESTAO INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE ORGANISATION OF OSAKIDETZA-BASQUE HEALTH SERVICE:

Inclusion Criteria:

  • collaboration is achieved from at least 51% of the General Practitioners (GP) or at least 4 GPs
  • At least 60 patients aged 65 years or older on at least one of the drugs of interest that may be potentially inappropriately prescribed

Exclusion Criteria:

  • N/A

PATIENTS ASSIGNED TO THE PARTICIPATING PC CENTERS:

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients over 65 years of age with any of the following unsuitability criteria:
  • PIP of benzodiazepines: patients on benzodiazepines for more than 3 months
  • PIP of proton pump inhibitors: patients on proton pump inhibitors for more than 8 weeks without a diagnosed gastrointestinal disease and with no long-term prescription of gastrotoxic drugs.
  • PIP of opioids: patients on opioids for non-cancer pain for more than 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who, in the opinion of the general practitioner, are not suitable candidates for tapering or discontinuation of the potentially inappropriately prescribed drug
  • Patients residing in care homes
  • Patients receiving palliative care

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: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

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.
Active Comparator: Control
All health centre clusters will start under the control condition
Behavioral: Usual AF
The strategy currently used as a management tool to evaluate healthcare performance focusing on processes and outcomes, as part of Osakidetza's operating contract: provision of AF, sent to PC centres every 4 months with data on overall rates of PIP, lists of patients over 65 years old who have a potentially inappropriate prescription of at least one of the drugs of interest, and provision of support materials related to appropriate prescribing and recommendations on deprescribing.
Experimental: Intervention
one centre per step at 1-month intervals will be randomly assigned to crossover to the intervention
Behavioral: Usual AF
The strategy currently used as a management tool to evaluate healthcare performance focusing on processes and outcomes, as part of Osakidetza's operating contract: provision of AF, sent to PC centres every 4 months with data on overall rates of PIP, lists of patients over 65 years old who have a potentially inappropriate prescription of at least one of the drugs of interest, and provision of support materials related to appropriate prescribing and recommendations on deprescribing.
Behavioral: Facilitated AF
Based on a facilitation component delivered by PC pharmacy staff. Specifically, the PC pharmacists will conduct a facilitation session with the centre's clinicians in which they will review the magnitude of PIP in the centre (PIP rates), appropriateness/inappropriateness criteria, and guidelines to encourage deprescribing, and draw up an action plan at clinician and centre levels.

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
Primary effectiveness: Proportion of patients with deprescribing or tapering of any of the PIP
Time Frame: From baseline to 13 months
proportion of patients for whom appropriateness is achieved, either through deprescribing or tapering (for example, dose reduction) of any of the drugs potentially inappropriately prescribed in the patients included in the clusters.
From baseline to 13 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
Secondary effectiveness: Proportion of patients with deprescribing or tapering for each PIP
Time Frame: From baseline to 13 months
proportion of patients in whom appropriateness is achieved for each of the potentially inappropriately prescribed drugs assessed separately
From baseline to 13 months
Secondary Effectiveness: Rate of new PIP
Time Frame: From baseline to 13 months
Rate of new PIP among patients over 65 years old seeking medical care during the study period
From baseline to 13 months
Adoption: Percentage of General Practitioners who agree to receive the active components of the strategies
Time Frame: From baseline to 13 months
Percentage of doctors, out of the total number invited to participate at the start of the intervention, who agree to receive the active components of the strategies, as well as the characteristics of those who do and do not agree to participate.
From baseline to 13 months
Degree of implementation fidelity
Time Frame: From baseline to 13 months
The degree of fidelity with which each strategy has been implemented compared to what was originally planned will be evaluated. For this, the implementation process and any adaptations made to the strategies or their active components will be recorded and subsequently described. Furthermore, we will evaluate the degree of exposure of GPs to the strategies.
From baseline to 13 months
General Practitioners´ perception of the feasibility and acceptability
Time Frame: From baseline to 19 months
GPs perception of the feasibility and acceptability of the deprescribing strategy based on the AF to adapt/reduce their practice of unnecessary pharmacological prescribing.
From baseline to 19 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.
Basque Health Service

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.
European Union
Health Department of the Basque Government
Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), Spain
Biobizkaia Health Research Institute

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 (Estimated)

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.
June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

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, 2027

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).
December 17, 2025

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.
December 30, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

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.
January 13, 2026

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.
May 13, 2026

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.
May 11, 2026

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.
May 1, 2026

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.
  • 2024111054
  • 2018111085 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Health Department of the Basque Government)
  • 2021111024 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Health Department of the Basque Government)
  • PI21/00025 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and European Union (European Regional Development Fund "A way to make Europe"))
  • RD16/0007/0002 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and European Union (European Regional Development Fund "A way to make Europe"))
  • RD21/0016/0003 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and European Union (NextGenerationEU funds, MRR))
  • RD24/0005/0017 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and European Union)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data that support future results will be shared, after deidentification

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Starting 6 months after the publication of results

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Since data supporting the present study will mostly concern routine data retrieved from the electronic health record of the Basque Health Service-Osakidetza, it will only be made available on reasonable request to the study guarantors (proposals should be directed to the Responsible Party). It will only be shared with researchers whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee identified for this purpose.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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