The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of two implementation strategies for a simple patient-directed intervention to reduce long-term benzodiazepine use in Dutch community pharmacies.
In Dutch community pharmacies many projects have been undertaken in the field of pharmaceutical care, with mixed results. It is not yet clear which elements exactly contribute to the success of these projects and to implementation of pharmaceutical care. One of the subjects to which attention is paid in community pharmacies, is the undesirable long-term use of benzodiazepines. Treatment methods for discontinuation of long-term benzodiazepine use have been studied rather extensively. A simple patient-directed discontinuation letter proved to be effective in several studies. Comparison: a minimal intervention group (pharmacists carrying out the intervention guided by a manual only) compared to a maximal intervention group (pharmacists receiving a manual, a training aimed at better cooperation and communication with family practitioners and some support in the management of the project).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
20,000
percentage of general practitioners that reviewed and returned the list of longterm users.
percentage of letters sent by the pharmacists in the four months after receiving the manual.
percentage of long-term benzodiazepine users that managed to quit or significantly reduce their use in months 0-3, 4-6 and 10-12 after receiving the letter.
evaluation of the implementation strategies
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