Creating Evidence-based Deprescribing Guidelines

Prescribers have said that it’s difficult to stop medications when prescribing guidelines only talk about starting them. The “Deprescribing Guidelines for the Elderly” project developed evidence-based deprescribing guidelines to support clinicians in safely reducing or stopping medications. We conducted a national survey to identify priorities for deprescribing guidelines. Then, we used an evidence-based approach to develop deprescribing guidelines for three specific drug classes — proton pump inhibitors, benzodiazepine receptor agonists, and antipsychotics. We piloted these guidelines in three long-term-care and three Family Health Teams in the Ottawa area in Ontario, Canada. The resulting guidelines have been published, and a number of related materials are available in the guidelines and patient information sections of this website.

More about this project can be found here.
Co-leads: Dr. Barbara Farrell and Dr. James Conklin, Bruyère Research Institute
Co-investigators: Dr. Lise BjerreDr. Lisa McCarthyDr. Kevin PottieDr. Lalitha Raman-WilmsDr. Carlos Rojas-Fernandez
Contact: deprescribing@deprescribing.org

Funder (2013-2016): This research/study was supported by the Government of Ontario Health Services Research Fund in collaboration with the Ontario Pharmacy Evidence Network.

Additional links:

Developing Deprescribing Guidelines – Video

This video helps viewers understand:

  • The rationale for evidence-based deprescribing guidelines
  • The process used for developing the deprescribing guidelines
  • The steps that a health care professional and patient need to go through to make and carry out safe deprescribing processes

Access all of the Bruyère Deprescrbing Guidelines Research Team’s videos here.