A new Cochrane Library Editorial has been published about the overtreatment with multiple medications and potentially inappropriate medications use in frail, older adults, and people with multimorbidity.
The editorial introduces the Cochrane Library Special Collection on deprescribing which provides a summary of Cochrane Reviews on the topic. This collection of reviews highlight that deprescribing is likely feasible and safe and can lead to benefits in prescribing and clinical outcomes. However, they also highlight significant gaps in the literature and methodological challenges to both conducting deprescribing studies and systematic reviews of deprescribing. The editorial calls on the deprescribing research field to focus on universally accepted standards, definitions, and checklists and work collaboratively with Cochrane Sustainable Healthcare.