
2026
AbstractURLBibTeXEndNoteDOIBibSonomy1.García Álvarez Ángel, Riera Serra P, Ricci-Cabello I, Morales Hernández D, Santa Cruz R, Malih N, Gonçalves-Bradley DC, Gallardo-Alfaro L, Serrano Ripoll MJ, Calafat Villalonga C, Ferrer Jaillard BA, Pinteño-Blanco M, Medina Bombardó D, Doronzo MA, Jaume Gayá S, Fiol deRoque MA. Effectiveness and safety of focused deprescribing interventions targeting specific drug classes in older adults across clinical settings: an umbrella systematic literature review. Age and ageing [Internet]. England; 2026 Aug.;55(8):afag243-. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42607278Polypharmacy is highly prevalent among older adults and is associated with adverse outcomes. While comprehensive medication review is widely promoted to address potentially inappropriate prescribing, it is resource intensive. Focused deprescribing-defined as the targeted withdrawal or dose reduction of specific drug classes-has emerged as a potentially more scalable strategy. This umbrella review synthesised evidence on the effectiveness and safety of drug class-specific focused deprescribing interventions in older adults. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews evaluating focused deprescribing interventions targeting specific pharmacological classes. MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science were searched from inception to March 2025. Study selection, data extraction and methodological quality assessment (AMSTAR-2) were performed independently by two reviewers. Findings were synthesised narratively by drug class and outcome domain, and overlap was assessed using the Corrected Covered Area. Twenty-seven systematic reviews were included. Most focused on psychotropics, particularly benzodiazepines, and anticholinergics, with fewer assessing antidiabetics or fall-risk increasing drugs. Reductions in medication use were most consistent for benzodiazepines and other psychotropics, especially when interventions included psychotherapy or multifaceted components. Evidence for antidiabetics suggested feasibility and safety, whereas effects on anticholinergics and fall-risk increasing drugs were limited. Clinical outcomes, including mortality, falls and cognition, were inconsistently reported and rarely improved. Most reviews were rated as critically low quality, and certainty of evidence was generally low or very low. Focused deprescribing appears feasible and generally safe for reducing selected potentially inappropriate medications in older adults; however, its clinical benefits are drug class-dependent and remain uncertain.@article{garciaalvarez2026effectiveness,
abstract = {Polypharmacy is highly prevalent among older adults and is associated with adverse outcomes. While comprehensive medication review is widely promoted to address potentially inappropriate prescribing, it is resource intensive. Focused deprescribing-defined as the targeted withdrawal or dose reduction of specific drug classes-has emerged as a potentially more scalable strategy. This umbrella review synthesised evidence on the effectiveness and safety of drug class-specific focused deprescribing interventions in older adults. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews evaluating focused deprescribing interventions targeting specific pharmacological classes. MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science were searched from inception to March 2025. Study selection, data extraction and methodological quality assessment (AMSTAR-2) were performed independently by two reviewers. Findings were synthesised narratively by drug class and outcome domain, and overlap was assessed using the Corrected Covered Area. Twenty-seven systematic reviews were included. Most focused on psychotropics, particularly benzodiazepines, and anticholinergics, with fewer assessing antidiabetics or fall-risk increasing drugs. Reductions in medication use were most consistent for benzodiazepines and other psychotropics, especially when interventions included psychotherapy or multifaceted components. Evidence for antidiabetics suggested feasibility and safety, whereas effects on anticholinergics and fall-risk increasing drugs were limited. Clinical outcomes, including mortality, falls and cognition, were inconsistently reported and rarely improved. Most reviews were rated as critically low quality, and certainty of evidence was generally low or very low. Focused deprescribing appears feasible and generally safe for reducing selected potentially inappropriate medications in older adults; however, its clinical benefits are drug class-dependent and remain uncertain.},
address = {England},
author = {García Álvarez, Ángel and Riera Serra, Pau and Ricci-Cabello, Ignacio and Morales Hernández, David and Santa Cruz, Roberto and Malih, Narges and Gonçalves-Bradley, Daniela C and Gallardo-Alfaro, Laura and Serrano Ripoll, Maria Jesús and Calafat Villalonga, Catalina and Ferrer Jaillard, Bárbara Ana and Pinteño-Blanco, Manuel and Medina Bombardó, David and Doronzo, Maria Angela and Jaume Gayá, Sebastián and Fiol deRoque, Maria Antònia},
journal = {Age and ageing},
keywords = {evisap},
month = {aug},
number = 8,
pages = {afag243--},
title = {Effectiveness and safety of focused deprescribing interventions targeting specific drug classes in older adults across clinical settings: an umbrella systematic literature review},
volume = 55,
year = 2026
}%0 Journal Article
%1 garciaalvarez2026effectiveness
%A García Álvarez, Ángel
%A Riera Serra, Pau
%A Ricci-Cabello, Ignacio
%A Morales Hernández, David
%A Santa Cruz, Roberto
%A Malih, Narges
%A Gonçalves-Bradley, Daniela C
%A Gallardo-Alfaro, Laura
%A Serrano Ripoll, Maria Jesús
%A Calafat Villalonga, Catalina
%A Ferrer Jaillard, Bárbara Ana
%A Pinteño-Blanco, Manuel
%A Medina Bombardó, David
%A Doronzo, Maria Angela
%A Jaume Gayá, Sebastián
%A Fiol deRoque, Maria Antònia
%C England
%D 2026
%J Age and ageing
%N 8
%P afag243--
%R 10.1093/ageing/afag243
%T Effectiveness and safety of focused deprescribing interventions targeting specific drug classes in older adults across clinical settings: an umbrella systematic literature review
%U https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42607278
%V 55
%X Polypharmacy is highly prevalent among older adults and is associated with adverse outcomes. While comprehensive medication review is widely promoted to address potentially inappropriate prescribing, it is resource intensive. Focused deprescribing-defined as the targeted withdrawal or dose reduction of specific drug classes-has emerged as a potentially more scalable strategy. This umbrella review synthesised evidence on the effectiveness and safety of drug class-specific focused deprescribing interventions in older adults. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews evaluating focused deprescribing interventions targeting specific pharmacological classes. MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science were searched from inception to March 2025. Study selection, data extraction and methodological quality assessment (AMSTAR-2) were performed independently by two reviewers. Findings were synthesised narratively by drug class and outcome domain, and overlap was assessed using the Corrected Covered Area. Twenty-seven systematic reviews were included. Most focused on psychotropics, particularly benzodiazepines, and anticholinergics, with fewer assessing antidiabetics or fall-risk increasing drugs. Reductions in medication use were most consistent for benzodiazepines and other psychotropics, especially when interventions included psychotherapy or multifaceted components. Evidence for antidiabetics suggested feasibility and safety, whereas effects on anticholinergics and fall-risk increasing drugs were limited. Clinical outcomes, including mortality, falls and cognition, were inconsistently reported and rarely improved. Most reviews were rated as critically low quality, and certainty of evidence was generally low or very low. Focused deprescribing appears feasible and generally safe for reducing selected potentially inappropriate medications in older adults; however, its clinical benefits are drug class-dependent and remain uncertain.
