Table 2

Characteristics of publications on deprescribing activities

Characteristics	N=50	% of 50
Type of article
Randomised controlled trial*	31	62
Quasi-experimental design	11	22
Cohort studies	4	8
Feasibility studies	3	6
Case-controlled studies	1	2
Country of origin
UK	9	18
The Netherlands	7	14
USA	7	14
Spain	6	12
Australia	4	8
Canada	4	8
Ireland	4	8
New Zealand	2	4
France	2	4
Portugal	1	2
Switzerland	1	2
Germany	1	2
Scotland	1	2
Multiple locations	1	2
Year of publication
<1999	4	8
2000–2005	5	10
2006–2010	4	8
2011–2015	7	14
2016–2021	31	60
ICD-11 category
Mental illnesses	17	33
Digestive illnesses	5	10
Multimorbidity	4	8
Nervous system	2	4
General symptoms	3	6
Circulatory	2	4
Sleep–wake disorders	2	4
Infectious	1	2
Other	4	8
Initial reason for prescription not given†	10	20
Specific medication targeted for deprescription
Polypharmacy	16	32
Benzodiazepines	14	28
Antidepressants	6	12
Proton pump inhibitors	5	10
Opioids	3	6
Antihypertensives	2	4
Psychotropics	1	2
Antibiotics	1	2
Anticholinergics	1	2
Mirabegon (urinary incontinence)	1	2
Reason for deprescription
Inappropriate medication use	27	53
Long-term use	19	37
Adverse side effects	4	8
Exploration of alternative treatment	1	2

NB.
*Of the included RCTs, 10 were protocol papers and 11 were protocol registrations.
†These studies targeted polypharmacy, therefore initial reason for the prescription of multiple medications was not specified.
ICD, International Classification of Diseases; RCTs, randomised controlled trials.