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Table 2 Comparison of percentages of GPs reporting to deprescribe medication in the case of a frail 82-year-old patient without and with history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and most frequently mentioned reasons to deprescribe for the case

From: How general practitioners would deprescribe in frail oldest-old with polypharmacy — the LESS study

 

History of CVD

p-value1

No

Yes

Medication

Percentage of GPs (95% CI)

Reasons to deprescribe (frequency)

Percentage of GPs (95% CI)

Reasons to deprescribe (frequency)

Atorvastatin 40 mg

100%

- Not enough benefit (56)

- No indication (35)

- No evidence (16)

- Short estimated life expectancy (16)

76% (69–83%)

- Not enough benefit (30)

- Other (25)

- Short estimated life expectancy (19)

< 0.001

Pantoprazole 20 mg

88% (83–93%)

- No indication (111)

- In reserve, no long-term therapy (6)

- Not enough benefit (5)

81% (75–87%)

- No indication (90)

- Not enough benefit (7)

0.002

Aspirin 100 mg

74% (67–81%)

- No indication (55)

- Not enough benefit (19)

- Side effects (15)

32% (25–40%)

- Other (13)

- Side effects (9)

- Short life expectancy (8)

< 0.001

Tramadol 50 mg

71% (63–78%)

- Side effects (76)

- Lower drug dose (8)

- In reserve, no long-term therapy (8)

70% (63–77%)

- Side effects (69)

- Lower drug dose (9)

- In reserve, no long-term therapy (8)

0.71

Amlodipine 5 mg

44% (36–52%)

- No indication (22)

- Side effects (22)

- Not enough benefit (7)

- Deprescribe the drug and evaluate the effect (7)

36% (28–44%)

- No indication (21)

- Side effects (9)

- Other (7)

0.011

Paracetamol 1 g

29% (22–37%)

- Lower drug dose (13)

- In reserve, no long-term therapy (13)

- Deprescribe the drug and evaluate the effect (6)

29% (22–36%)

- Lower drug dose (14)

- In reserve, no long-term therapy (10)

- Deprescribe the drug and evaluate the effect (6)

0.56

Enalapril 10 mg

24% (17–31%)

- No indication (15)

- Side effects (5)

- Lower drug dose (4)

19% (13–25%)

- No indication (13)

- Lower drug dose (3)

- Other (3)

0.033

  1. 1P-value from McNemar’s test comparing percentages of GPs deprescribing each medication by CVD