SynthesisBMC geriatrics2026
Impact of pharmacist-led deprescribing interventions on medication related outcomes among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC geriatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- Reducing Polypharmacy-Related Adverse Outcomes in Older Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study of a Digitally Mediated Pharmacist Intervention.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOlder adults usually experience polypharmacy which increases their risk of adverse drug events, drug-drug interactions, and medication non-adherence. Clinical pharmacists, with specialized expertise in pharmacotherapy, are capable of engaging in deprescribing interventions aimed at reducing potentially inappropriate medications and overall medication burden. However, the overall impact of these pharmacist-led strategies remains unclear due to heterogeneity in study designs, settings, and outcomes.
objectivesThe aim of this study was to assess the impact of pharmacist-led deprescribing interventions among older adults across different settings.
methodsWe searched PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar for English language randomized controlled trials and high-quality nonrandomized studies published from January 2015 onward, comparing pharmacist-led deprescribing interventions to usual care in any setting (community, outpatient, hospital, or long-term care). Primary outcomes were mean change in total number of medications per patient and the proportion of patients achieving effective deprescribing (discontinuation of ≥ 1 PIM or ≥ 0.5 reduction in a drug burden index).
resultsSeven studies (five RCTs, two non-randomized) encompassing 3,607 older adults met inclusion criteria. The pooled mean difference (MD) in total medications at last follow-up favored intervention by - 0.55 medications (95% CI - 2.17 to 1.07; I² = 83.1%), and the pooled risk ratio (RR) for effective deprescribing was 1.85 (95% CI 0.63-5.45; I² = 73.5%), though neither reached statistical significance. Secondary outcomes indicated improvements in medication burden indices without increased adverse events.
conclusionPharmacist-led deprescribing reduces inappropriate medication use in targeted settings, while pooled effects on total medication count and hard clinical outcomes remain uncertain. Variability in study designs and outcomes underscores the need for larger, thoroughly designed trials with standardized protocols, longer follow-up, and comprehensive evaluations of clinical, economic, and patient-reported outcomes to establish scalable, sustainable deprescribing practices across diverse healthcare settings. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The protocol for this systematic review was registered in International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO identifier: CRD420251072072).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.