Table 3.
Safety Outcomes
| A. Medicine associated with symptom recurrence after deprescribing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention Group | Control Group |
Odds Ratio (95% CI) |
p value | |||
|
Number of patients with target medicine initially deprescribed N |
Number of patients with symptom recurrence n (%) |
Number of patients with target medicine initially deprescribed N |
Number of patients with symptom recurrence n (%) |
|||
| Painkillers | 102 | 24 (23.5) | 76 | 11 (14.5) | 1.80 (0.83, 3.99) | 0.140 |
| Laxatives | 80 | 51 (63.8) | 47 | 15 (31.9) | 3.75 (1.75, 8.06) | < 0.001 |
| Antiemetics | 37 | 5 (13.5) | 31 | 3 (9.7) | 1.46 (0.32, 6.66) | 0.630 |
| Gastroprotectives | 40 | 8 (20.0) | 32 | 7 (21.9) | 0.89 (0.29, 2.80) | 0.850 |
| Steroid Creams | 10 | 4 (40.0) | 13 | 4 (30.8) | 1.50 (0.27, 8.45) | 0.650 |
| Vitamin B based supplements | 19 | 2 (10.5) | 4 | 1 (25.0) | 0.35 (0.02, 5.23) | 0.450 |
| Glucosamine | 6 | 0 (0.0) | 0 | 0 (0.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Multivitamins | 1 | 0 (0.0) | 0 | 0 (0.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Diuretics | 4 | 0 (0.0) | 4 | 2 (50.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Benzodiazepines | 4 | 2 (50.0) | 2 | 1 (50.0) | 1.00 (0.03, 29.81) | 1.000 |
| Antihistamines (for insomnia) | 3 | 0 (0.0) | 3 | 1 (33.3) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Antihistamines (for itch) | 5 | 2 (40.0) | 4 | 1 (25.0) | 2.00 (0.11, 35.81) | 0.640 |
| Opioids (for Cough) | 18 | 2 (11.1) | 21 | 3 (14.3) | 0.75 (0.11, 5.07) | 0.770 |
| Opioids (for diarrhoea) | 1 | 1 (100.0) | 3 | 2 (66.7) | N.A. | N.A. |
| B. Medicine which are restarted or substituted after deprescribing | ||||||
| Intervention | Control |
Odds Ratio (95% CI) |
p value |
|||
|
Number of patients with target medicine initially deprescribed n |
Number of patients with medication restarted/ substituted n (%) |
Number of patients with target medicine initially deprescribed n |
Number of patients with medication restarted/ substituted n (%) |
|||
| Painkillers | 102 | 67 (65.7) | 77 | 46 (59.7) | 1.29 (0.70, 2.38) | 0.410 |
| Laxatives | 84 | 39 (46.4) | 51 | 12 (23.5) | 2.82 (1.30, 6.12) | 0.009 |
| Antiemetics | 37 | 5 (13.5) | 31 | 6 (19.4) | 0.65 (0.18, 2.38) | 0.520 |
| Gastroprotectives | 44 | 7 (15.9) | 34 | 9 (26.5) | 0.53 (0.17, 1.60) | 0.260 |
| Steroid Creams | 10 | 3 (30.0) | 13 | 6 (46.2) | 0.50 (0.09, 2.84) | 0.430 |
| Vitamin B based supplements | 18 | 3 (16.7) | 4 | 0 (0.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Glucosamine | 7 | 2 (28.6) | 0 | 0 (0.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Multivitamins | 1 | 0 (0.0) | 0 | 0 (0.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Diuretics | 5 | 0 (0.0) | 5 | 1 (20.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Benzodiazepines | 5 | 1 (20.0) | 2 | 0 (0.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Antihistamines (for insomnia) | 4 | 2 (50.0) | 3 | 2 (66.7) | 0.50 (0.02, 11.09) | 0.660 |
| Antihistamines (for itch) | 6 | 2 (33.3) | 5 | 0 (0.0) | N.A. | N.A. |
| Opioids (for cough) | 19 | 3 (15.8) | 23 | 7 (30.4) | 0.43 (0.09, 1.96) | 0.270 |
| Opioids (for diarrhoea) | 2 | 1 (50.0) | 3 | 2 (66.7) | 0.50 (0.01, 19.56) | 0.710 |
| C: Hospitalisation and deaths | ||||||
| Intervention (N = 126) | Control (N = 127) |
Odds Ratio (95% CI) |
p value |
|||
| Hospitalisations, n (%) | 23 (18.3) | 26 (20.4) | 0.87 (0.46, 1.62) | 0.655 | ||
| Deaths, n (%) | 2 (1.6) | 0 (0) | N.A. | 0.247 | ||