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Prescribing Outcomes of a GP-Targeted Deprescribing Educational Intervention: A Cluster Randomized Trial

NCT06470308 · Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 200

Last updated 2026-02-09

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Polypharmacy is a common and growing public health concern across healthcare settings worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of inappropriate prescribing and adverse drug events. Deprescribing-defined as the supervised withdrawal of potentially inappropriate medications using structured tools and clinical judgment-has been proposed as a strategy to improve prescribing safety. In Greece, formal initiatives and evidence evaluating deprescribing interventions in primary care remain limited.

This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of an educational intervention for general practitioners (GPs) on prescribing safety in primary care. Participating GPs are randomized in an approximately 1:1 ratio to an intervention or control arm. GPs in the intervention arm receive structured education and training on medication review and deprescribing, including the use of validated deprescribing tools such as the Beers Criteria. GPs in the control arm provide usual care and do not receive any educational intervention.

Patients receiving care from participating GPs are recruited, and prescribing outcomes are assessed at the patient level. The primary outcome is change in prescription medications following the intervention, comparing patients cared for by GPs in the intervention arm versus those cared for by GPs in the control arm.

Conditions

  • Medication Overuse
  • Deprescriptions
  • Polypharmacy
  • Frailty Syndrome

Interventions

OTHER

Medication Reviews and Deprescribing

General Practitioners will be given training and education in deprescribing algorithms and the conduction of medication reviews with the use of validated deprescribing tools such as the Beers Criteria.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Crete

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Ioanna Tsiligianni, MD, PhD · Associate Professor in General Practice and Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, University of Crete

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2024-11-18
Primary Completion
2025-12-30
Completion
2026-03-31

Countries

  • Greece

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06470308 on ClinicalTrials.gov