Table 3. Primary and secondary outcome measures at follow-up.
| Outcome measure | Intervention (N = 208) | Control (N = 196) | Adjusted difference (95% CI); p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary outcome measures | |||
| Number of medicines¥, Mean (SD) | 16.02 (3.93) | 17.55 (4.10) | 0.95ǂ (0.899 to 0.999); p = 0.045 |
| Patients with at least 1 PIP§, N (%) | 181 (87.44) | 179 (91.79) | 0.39¶ (0.140 to 1.064); p = 0.066 |
| Secondary outcome measures | |||
| Prescribing-related measures | N = 208 | N = 196 | |
| Number of medicines stopped, Mean (SD) | 3.97 (3.15) | 2.92 (3.17) | 1.48ǂ (1.171 to 1.871); p = 0.001 |
| Number of medicines started, Mean (SD) | 3.02 (3.03) | 2.67 (2.91) | 1.12ǂ (0.826 to 1.513); p = 0.470 |
| Proportion prescribed ≥15 medicines, N (%) | 132 (63.46) | 161 (82.14) | 0.37¶ (0.193 to 0.719); p = 0.003 |
| Number of PIP, Mean (SD) | 2.16 (1.44) | 2.35 (1.43) | 0.92ǂ (0.813 to 1.057); p = 0.256 |
| Proportion with any reduction in PIP, N (%) | 73 (35.10) | 58 (29.51) | 1.42¶ (0.892 to 2.255); p = 0.140 |
| Proportion with at least 1 high-risk PIP, N (%) | 117 (57.07) | 119 (62.30) | 0.93¶ (0.528 to 1.642); p = 0.806 |
| PROMs | N = 118 | N = 111 | |
| EQ-5D-5L index score, Mean (SD) | 0.517 (0.382) | 0.456 (0.357) | 0.011₱ (−0.059 to 0.081); p = 0.753 |
| Global MTBQ score, Mean (SD) [27] | 12.33 (13.50) | 17.05 (16.42) | −2.80₱ (−6.433 to 0.833); p = 0.131 |
| Satisfied with medicines (rPATD [26] question 1)*, Mean score (SD) | 4.21 (0.76) | 3.94 (0.76) | 1.06ǂ (0.922 to 1.212); p = 0.427 |
| Willing to stop a medicine (rPATD [26] question 7)*, Mean score (SD) | 4.38 (0.71) | 4.11 (0.82) | 1.05ǂ (0.918 to 1.200); p = 0.478 |
| Healthcare utilisation | N = 188 | N = 171 | |
| Number of GP visits, Mean (SD) | 4.42 (3.51) | 3.83 (3.26) | 1.06ǂ (0.840 to 1.348); p = 0.608 |
| Telephone consultations, Mean (SD) | 1.55 (2.12) | 1.41 (2.21) | 1.75ǂ (0.995 to 3.081); p = 0.052 |
| Repeat prescription requests, Mean (SD) | 2.51 (2.55) | 2.38 (2.57) | 1.08ǂ (0.817 to 1.424); p = 0.593 |
| ED presentations, Mean (SD) | 0.46 (1.01) | 0.33 (0.85) | 1.31ǂ (0.699 to 2.477); p = 0.394 |
| Number of inpatient days, Mean (SD) | 2.43 (6.19) | 3.07 (9.79) | 1.50ǂ (0.522 to 4.308); p = 0.451 |
| Number of outpatient visits, Mean (SD) | 2.62 (5.54) | 2.39 (2.28) | 0.97ǂ (0.712 to 1.333); p = 0.869 |
§ Intracluster correlation coefficient at baseline was 0.053 (95% CI: 0.000 to 0.122).
¥ Intracluster correlation coefficient at baseline was 0.171 (95% CI: 0.074 to 0.269).
ǂ IRR from multilevel Poisson regression.
¶ OR from multilevel logistic regression.
₱ Beta coefficient from multilevel linear regression.
* Five-point Likert score where 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree.
CI, confidence interval; ED, emergency department; EQ-5D-5L, EuroQoL 5-dimension 5-level; GP, general practitioner; IRR, incidence rate ratio; MTBQ, Multimorbidity Treatment Burden Questionnaire; OR, odds ratio; PIP, potentially inappropriate prescribing; PROM, patient-reported outcome measure; rPATD, revised Patients’ Attitudes Towards Deprescribing; SD, standard deviation.