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PolypharmacyNCT04805151

Polypharmacy and Associated Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes for Surgical Patients Discharged From Hospital

An observational study of Polypharmacy and General Surgery, run by University of Iceland at 1 site in Iceland.

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 The sponsor has not verified this record for over two years, so it may be out of date.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

The World Health Organisation Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm has brought our attention to the importance of medication-related harm as a global public health issue. One of the major contributing factors is polypharmacy, the usage of multiple medicines at the same time. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Polypharmacy, General Surgery
How many people
56,000 participants
Where
1 siteIceland
Study dates
2 Jan 2021to 2 Jan 2025
Phase
Observational
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 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Adult, Older adult

Study population: The study population is surgical patients in hospital settings. The cohort will include 100% of tertiary care surgical admissions in Iceland and 70-80% of secondary care in Iceland. The study population includes 56.000 number of participants.

Who may be able to join

  • Participants: surgery patients ≥18 years in admitted to Landspitali University Hospital over the period 2010-2018.

Who cannot join

  • Under 18 years of age

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Iceland1 site
  • Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

    Reykjavik

Other trials in Iceland

About this study

Official title: Polypharmacy, Medication Appropriateness, Risk Factors, Clinical Outcomes and Predication on Medication Related Harm Post- Discharge From a Hospital for Surgical Patients

The World Health Organisation Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm has brought our attention to the importance of medication-related harm as a global public health issue. One of the major contributing factors is polypharmacy, the usage of multiple medicines at the same time. People are getting older and living longer with chronic diseases; they need more medications, which frequently leads to polypharmacy. Subsequently, they are at more risk of medication-related harm. The planned project is an epidemiological study on polypharmacy, medication appropriateness, risk factors, and clinical outcomes post-discharge from a hospital for surgical patients.

The study group hypothesise that pre-and post-operative polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate prescribing is common, especially among older patients, patients with a high comorbidity and frailty burden, and patients undergoing more complicated surgery. Our hypothesis is additionally that preoperative polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate prescribing is associated with a higher short- and long-term mortality, a longer primary hospitalization length of stay, and a higher risk of readmission.

Read the detailed description

This is an observational, retrospective, single centered study, using clinical data from the patient's medical record from the hospital, the national prescription database of the Directorate of Health, and the and ICD-10 codes from primary care records. For this analysis, medicines will be classified into drug classes based on the first five characters of their WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) code. The prevalence (pre) and incidence (post) of polypharmacy (≥5 or more regular medicines) and hyper-polypharmacy (≥10 regular medicines) will be calculated. Potentially inappropriate prescribing will be assessed in individuals ≥65 years applying Beers 2019, Start and Stopp 2014, explicit prescribing criteria. The analysis will be restricted to older individuals, as Beers criteria have not been validated in younger age groups. The anticholinergic burden will be assessed for all individuals ≥18 years will be assessed by applying the anticholinergic burden scale This stratification is important in order to deliver targeted interventions in resource-limited healthcare settings

Being tested
No intervention
Keywords
Polypharmacy, Potentially inappropriate medication list, Drug-related side effects and adverse reaction, Readmission, Patient discharge, Prediction tool, Start and stop, Inappropriate Prescribing, General surgery, Beers criteria, STOPP START criteria
Medical subject headings
Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions

What participants receive

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

  • No interventionOther

    No intervention

What is being measured

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

  1. Polypharmacy

    Prevalence of polypharmacy (≥5 or more regular medicines) and hyper-polypharmacy (≥10 regular medicines) pre-admission and prevalence and incidence post-discharge for surgery patients ≥18 years in Iceland

    Measured: 2010-2018

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Clinical variables associated with the prevalence and incidence of polypharmacy

    Clinical variables associated with the prevalence and incidence of polypharmacy and hyper-polypharmacy for the surgery patients ≥18 years in Iceland.

    Prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescribing amongst patients ≥65 years in Iceland by applying Beers 2019 and Start and Stopp explicit prescribing criteria. To investigate the association of potentially inappropriate prescribing with polypharmacy, patient-specific factors, drug classes, and outcomes.

    Prevalence of anticholinergic burden by applying the Anticholinergic burden scale in individuals aged ≥18 years in Iceland and investigate the association of anticholinergic burden with polypharmacy, patient-specific factors, drug classes (ACD-codes), and selected outcomes (temporary admission, long-term mortality, time to readmission)

    Measured: 2010-2018

Timeline

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

  1. First posted18 Mar 2021
  2. Study start2 Jan 2021
  3. Primary completion2 Jun 2024 (estimated)
  4. Study completion2 Jan 2025 (estimated)

Resources

More details

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

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Retrospective
Enrolment
56,000 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04805151
Sponsor's protocol ID
UI- 2021 polypharmacy
Status last verified
Feb 2024
First submitted
15 Mar 2021
Last updated
9 Feb 2024
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Jonsdottir F, Blondal AB, Guethmundsson A, Bates I, Stevenson JM, Sigurethsson MI. Epidemiology and association with outcomes of polypharmacy in patients undergoing surgery: retrospective, population-based cohort study. BJS Open. 2023 May 5;7(3):zrad041. doi: 10.1093/bjsopen/zrad041.

    PubMed 37194458

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Polypharmacy and General Surgery, run by University of Iceland at 1 site in Iceland.

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 1 inclusion and 1 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 9 Feb 2024. 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 Iceland. 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?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Polypharmacy (time frame: 2010-2018). 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 NCT04805151, which also lists 1 linked publication.

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 9 Feb 2024.

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