Abstract
Older Patients’ and Caregivers’ Perceptions of and Attitudes to Deprescribing in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study
T M Alenzy1,2; C Parsons1; H E Barry1; S A Alkahtani3
1.School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK; 2. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Princess Nourah bint Adulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia
Introduction: Development of effective deprescribing interventions requires thorough understanding of attitudes of relevant stakeholders involved in the medication decision-making process. This study aimed to examine older patients’ and caregivers’ perspectives on deprescribing in Saudi Arabian hospitals and explored factors influencing their attitudes.
Method: A survey study was conducted using the Revised Patients’ Attitudes Towards Deprescribing (rPATD) questionnaire (Arabic version), which was administered to older patients and caregivers recruited from two hospitals in southern Saudi Arabia through convenience sampling. Participants provided written informed consent and ethical approval was obtained. Descriptive analyses (frequencies and proportions) summarised beliefs about medication inappropriateness, burden, discontinuation concerns, involvement and two global questions. Bivariate analyses examined links between participant characteristics and questionnaire responses.
Results: Questionnaires were completed by 253 participants (126 older patients and 127 caregivers; response rate 87.00%). Most patients were aged 65-69 years (53.17%), married (78.60%), and taking 5-8 medications (65.07%). Almost two-thirds (65.87%) were satisfied with medications, and 88.10% were willing to have them deprescribed. Patients taking 5-8 medications showed significantly greater willingness for deprescribing compared to those taking ≥9 medications (p<0.001). Married patients were more involved in medication decision-making than non-married patients (p<0.05). Most caregivers were aged 25–34 years (38.58%) and married (75.59%). Their care recipients were primarily ≥80 years, with 67.71% taking 5-8 medications. Most caregivers (60.00%) were satisfied with care recipients' medications, and 82.68% were willing to have these deprescribed. Caregivers of care recipients taking ≥9 medications reported greater burden associated with managing medications (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Characteristics such as the number of prescribed medications influenced patients’ and caregivers’ perceptions of medication burden and willingness to have medications deprescribed, while marital status influenced involvement in medication decision-making among patients. These insights may be used to help guide hospital deprescribing interventions.