De-prescribing Program to Evaluate Falls in Older Adults

Purpose: The proposed study will implement and evaluate the effect of an opioid and benzodiazepine (BZD) de-prescribing intervention on falls risk in older adults. Participants: Outpatient clinics with older adult patients, healthcare providers, older adult patients Procedures (methods): In this proposed study, there will be 10 primary care clinics randomly assigned to the intervention arm and 10 primary care clinics randomly assigned to the control arm. In the first phase of this study, patient and provider focus groups will be used to inform the development of the intervention which will be tested during the active trial phase. The intervention has the following components: 1) alerts given to providers to identify patients taking opioids or benzodiazepines (BZD) and therefore at risk for falls; 2) educational materials to inform providers on best practices for de-prescribing opioids and BZDs in patients at risk; and 3) recommendations on de-prescribing provided by a consultant pharmacist. Impact of the intervention will be evaluated using pre-post surveys evaluating changes in providers' knowledge, confidence, and skills as well as information from the electronic health record (EHR) to evaluate impact of the intervention on de-prescribing opioids and BZDs.

Falls among older adults is costly and dangerous. Observational studies show consistent associations between falls and certain medications. It is widely accepted that falls-related morbidity and mortality could be reduced if systems were in place to identify falls risks and intervene to reduce the risks identified. In this study, health care professionals (HCPs) within UNC outpatient clinics will be alerted to patients on high-risk medications and provide team-based interventions to maximize the success of falls education and medication deprescribing. This deprescribing intervention will focus specifically on opioids and benzodiazepines (BZDs) in patients 65 years of age and older since these medications have high susceptibility to negative cognitive effects in older adults and contribute to a higher risk of falls. This study will identify factors affecting the adoption, effective implementation, and maintenance of a deprescribing program focused on opioids and BZDs with the intent of reducing falls.