When a clinician broaches the idea of stopping a medication with an older patient, pointing out the drug’s potential side effects may motivate the patient to discontinue it, results from a new survey suggest. Other reasons for deprescribing, like doubts about a drug’s functional benefits, may be less persuasive, according to a study presented at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2021 Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting and published online in JAMA Network Open. Ariel R. Green, MD, MPH, PhD, and colleagues analyzed data from 835 adults aged 65 years and older who completed a survey that presented hypothetical scenarios that involved stopping a medication.
Links: Medscape (6/2021) (the article is available open access on Medscape with free registration)