Reasons Behind Continuity of In-Hospital Deprescribing Post Discharge: A Qualitative Study

Deprescribing reduces inappropriate polypharmacy in older adults and may be initiated in hospital. However, deprescribing changes initiated during a hospital admission are not always continued post discharge and deprescribing recommendations for inpatients to implement post discharge are not always actioned. This study aimed to explore reasons behind continuity of hospital-initiated deprescribing and actioning of hospital deprescribing recommendations post discharge from the perspectives of older adults/carers and health care professionals.