Clinician and Family Caregiver Perspectives on Deprescribing Chronic Disease Medications in Older Nursing Home Residents Near the End of Life

Introduction

Nursing home (NH) residents with limited life expectancy (LLE) who are intensely treated for hyperlipidemia, hypertension, or diabetes may benefit from deprescribing.

Objective

This study sought to describe NH clinician and family caregiver perspectives on key influences on deprescribing decisions for chronic disease medications in NH residents near the end of life.

Methods

We recruited family caregivers of veterans who recently died in a Veterans Affairs (VA) NH, known as community living centers (CLCs), and CLC healthcare clinicians (physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, registered nurses). Respondents completed semi-structured interviews about their experiences with deprescribing statin, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic medications for residents near end of life. We conducted thematic analysis of interview transcripts to identify key themes regarding influences on deprescribing decisions.

Results

Thirteen family caregivers and 13 clinicians completed interviews. Key themes included (1) clinicians and caregivers both prefer to minimize drug burden; (2) clinical factors strongly influence deprescribing of chronic disease medications, with differences in how clinicians and caregivers weigh specific factors; (3) caregivers trust and rely on clinicians to make deprescribing decisions; (4) clinicians perceive caregiver involvement and buy-in as essential to deprescribing decisions, which requires time and effort to obtain; and (5) clinicians perceive conflicting care from other clinicians as a barrier to deprescribing.

Conclusions

Findings suggest a need for efforts to encourage communication with and education for family caregivers of residents with LLE about deprescribing, and to foster better collaboration among clinicians in CLC and non-CLC settings.