Although the majority surveyed are aware of medication harms
FRIDAY, Sept. 22, 2017 (HealthDay News) — The majority of older patients are aware of medication harms, but far fewer understand deprescribing, according to a brief report published online Sept. 15 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Justin P. Turner, Ph.D., from the University of Montreal, and colleagues analyzed data from a survey of community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older (2,665 total participants; 898 men; mean age, 74.9 years) to determine older adults’ awareness of the concept of medication-induced harm.
The researchers found that nearly two-thirds of participants (65.2 percent) were familiar with the concept of medication-induced harms. Nearly half (48 percent) had researched medication-related harms either through the internet (35.5 percent) or from health care professionals (32.2 percent). However, only 6.9 recognized the term deprescribing.
“Health care providers can facilitate patient-initiated deprescribing conversations by providing information on medication harms and using the term ‘deprescribing,'” the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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