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FrailtyNCT02833272

Understanding Benzodiazepine and Non-benzodiazepine Sedative Use

A study testing EMPOWER Educational Brochure in people with Frailty and Deprescription, run by McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre at 1 site in Canada.

Unknown status

Status not confirmed. The sponsor has not verified this record for over two years, so it may be out of date.

Official record
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Trial summary

Inappropriate medication use among the elderly ranges from 11% to 62% and is a major concern for patient safety. Benzodiazepines account for approximately 20 to 25% of inappropriate medications prescribed to the elderly, thus reducing their inappropriate use could have a substantial impact on patient safety and… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 65 to 120 years
Conditions the study is for
Frailty, Deprescription, Aged
What is being tested?
EMPOWER Educational Brochure
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
50 participants
Where
1 siteCanada
Study dates
Jul 2016to Jun 2017
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 65 to 120 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Inpatients 65 years or older admitted to study units
  • Have a benzodiazepine or sedative prescription used at least 3 times in the week prior to enrolment

Who cannot join

  • Less than 65 years of age
  • Admitted for the treatment of alcohol or benzodiazepine withdrawal
  • Not having a prescription for benzodiazepines or Z-drugs
  • Not reporting use of either medication at least 3 times in the week prior to admission
  • Not being enrolled in the provincial drug plan
  • Opting out of the provincial drug database (DSQ)
Show all 11Show fewer
  • Previous enrolment in the study
  • Patients expected to die before primary endpoint can be realized (e.g., patients admitted for end of life care or prognosis of 3 months or less)
  • Patient lives in nursing home and has dementia without an identifiable proxy
  • Inability for patient or proxy to speak English or French
  • No means of contacting patient or proxy after discharge

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Canada1 site, 1 recruiting
  • McGill University Health Centre (Royal Victoria Hospital)

    Montreal, Quebec, H4A3J1

    Todd C Lee, MD MPH, 14-934-1934 ext. 53333, todd.lee@mcgill.ca

    Recruiting

Other trials in Canada

About this study

Official title: Deprescribing Sedative Hypnotics on the Clinical Teaching Unit Using a Patient Empowerment Tool

Inappropriate medication use among the elderly ranges from 11% to 62% and is a major concern for patient safety. Benzodiazepines account for approximately 20 to 25% of inappropriate medications prescribed to the elderly, thus reducing their inappropriate use could have a substantial impact on patient safety and overall well-being among elderly patients. The Choosing Wisely Canada- Geriatrics guidelines for high value health care recommend against the prescription of benzodiazepines or other sedative-hypnotics (Z drugs) in older adults as first choice for insomnia, agitation or delirium. Despite evidence of potential harms, benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine sedatives (including the "Z-drugs": eszopiclone, zopiclone, zolpidem and zaleplon, henceforth referred to as "sedatives") continue to be prescribed inappropriately to patients in hospital and community settings.

Our primary objective is to facilitate the deprescription of benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine sedative hypnotics (sedatives) using a combination of physician education sessions and an updated patient educational pamphlet based on Tannenbaum's EMPOWER study conducted in a community-based setting.

Read the detailed description

This study will be a pragmatic before-after intervention trial at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Royal Victoria Hospital (Glen Site) using historical controls from 2014-2016 at our hospital.The intervention will begin July 2016 and conclude January 2016.

The intervention will include the following components:

  1. Educational campaign toward physicians about benzodiazepine and Z-drug prescriptions: An educational campaign about the purpose of the study and risks of benzodiazepine and sedative prescriptions will be delivered to physicians in each intervention cluster. The educational campaign will include a presentation by the chief of the medical service at teaching rounds at the beginning of the intervention, an electronic message sent to all physicians on the medical service, and posting of the Choosing Wisely Canada- Geriatrics guidelines.
  2. In-hospital patient education campaign:

Patients will be identified from the pharmacy database and validated by a research associate in collaboration with the unit pharmacists based on the patient's best possible medication history taken at time of admission. Eligibility will be confirmed by the patient's treating physician with support from the principal investigator and site coordinators. Patients will receive a previously validated (in the outpatient setting) educational brochure about the risks of chronic sedative use and how to stop using them through a tapering regimen. The booklet currently includes information about benzodiazepines but will be adapted to also include information about sedatives. The preparation of the brochure has been validated in both English and French for comprehension and readability.

Clusters will be defined by clinical teaching unit (CTU) at the Royal Victoria Hospital, - the C9 CTU and D9 CTU. Follow up of discharged patients will be until 30 and 90 days post-discharge.

Being tested
EMPOWER Educational Brochure
Keywords
benzodiazepines, Z-drugs
Medical subject headings
Frailty

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • EMPOWER Educational BrochureBehavioural

    The EMPOWER educational brochure explains the risk of benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine sedative use to patients with a current prescription. The brochure also provides a tapering schedule if the patient chooses to discontinue taking the drug.

Study groups in NCT02833272
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
EMPOWER Educational BrochureExperimentalThis is the only arm of the study. All participants will undergo the intervention, which is an educational brochure (EMPOWER educational brochure) to explain the possible harms of benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine sedative drugs.
Receives: Behavioral: EMPOWER Educational Brochure

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Stopped Use

    Investigators will evaluate whether the patient has stopped use of benzodiazepines within 90 days of discharge from the hospital.

    Measured: 90 days post-discharge

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Sleep disturbance: sleep quality assessed by the PROMIS Sleep Disturbance 4a Short Form

    Investigators will evaluate whether the patient's sleep quality has changed since they left the hospital. The PROMIS Sleep Disturbance 4a Short Form will be used to assess sleep.

    Measured: 90 days post-discharge

  2. Change in patient self-reported falls

    Investigators will evaluate whether there has been any change in patient self-reported falls.

    Measured: 90 days post-discharge

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted14 Jul 2016 (estimated)
  2. Study startJul 2016
  3. Primary completionApr 2017 (estimated)
  4. Study completionJun 2017 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
50 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02833272
Sponsor's protocol ID
15-372
Status last verified
Feb 2017
First submitted
12 Jul 2016
Last updated
15 Feb 2017
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
Individual data sharing
Yes

Publications

  • Tannenbaum C, Martin P, Tamblyn R, Benedetti A, Ahmed S. Reduction of inappropriate benzodiazepine prescriptions among older adults through direct patient education: the EMPOWER cluster randomized trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Jun;174(6):890-8. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.949.

    PubMed 24733354
  • Guaraldo L, Cano FG, Damasceno GS, Rozenfeld S. Inappropriate medication use among the elderly: a systematic review of administrative databases. BMC Geriatr. 2011 Nov 30;11:79. doi: 10.1186/1471-2318-11-79.

    PubMed 22129458
  • Brekke M, Rognstad S, Straand J, Furu K, Gjelstad S, Bjorner T, Dalen I. Pharmacologically inappropriate prescriptions for elderly patients in general practice: How common? Baseline data from The Prescription Peer Academic Detailing (Rx-PAD) study. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2008;26(2):80-5. doi: 10.1080/02813430802002875.

    PubMed 18570005
  • van der Hooft CS, Jong GW, Dieleman JP, Verhamme KM, van der Cammen TJ, Stricker BH, Sturkenboom MC. Inappropriate drug prescribing in older adults: the updated 2002 Beers criteria--a population-based cohort study. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2005 Aug;60(2):137-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2005.02391.x.

    PubMed 16042666
  • American Geriatrics Society 2012 Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel. American Geriatrics Society updated Beers Criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012 Apr;60(4):616-31. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2012.03923.x. Epub 2012 Feb 29.

    PubMed 22376048

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing EMPOWER Educational Brochure in people with Frailty and Deprescription, run by McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre at 1 site in Canada.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 11 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 15 Feb 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Results are not available in the source record.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Emily G McDonald, MD MSc (514-934-1934 ext. 32968, emily.mcdonald@mcgill.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Stopped Use (time frame: 90 days post-discharge). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02833272, which also lists 5 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 15 Feb 2017.

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