Results
deaths, death, Comorbidity
We recruited 49 triads (49 general practices, 49 PIPs, and 72 care homes) (Consort diagram for cluster randomised controlled trial. GP=general practitioner; PIP=pharmacist independent prescriber
Trial groups at baseline. Values are numbers (percentages) unless stated otherwiseIQR=interquartile range; SD=standard deviation.EQ-5D utility scores set to zero for participants who died
Falls at six months: summaryCI=confidence interval.Adjusted for falls at baseline (in 90 days before enrolment); all 876 participants included, but only 844 had non-zero follow-up time.Adjusted for falls at baseline, Barthel score, Drug Burden Index, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and care home status (nursing/residential); 812 participants included.In total, 66 (15%) deaths were reported in the intervention group compared with 71 (17%) in the control group, with a mean time to death of 109 and 103 days, respectively. The Cox’s proportional hazards model found no evidence of an intervention effect (adjusted hazard ratio 0.93, 95% confidence interval 0.64 to 1.35; P=0.68) (see survival analysis figure in supplementary materials).
Secondary outcomes at six monthsCI=confidence interval; IQR=interquartile range; SD=standard deviation.Comparison adjusted for baseline values of main variable only.Comparison adjusted for baseline value of main variable, Barthel score, Charlson Comorbidity Index, home status, and Drug Burden Index.
EQ-5D proxy outcomes at three and six monthsCI=confidence interval; SD=standard deviationSelf-reported data are available from the authors but were collected from only 6.5% of resident participants.Comparison adjusted for baseline values of EQ-5D only.Comparison adjusted for baseline value of EQ-5D, Barthel score, Charlson Comorbidity Index, home status, and Drug Burden Index.EQ-5D utility scores set to zero for participants who died.Number and type of pharmacist independent prescriber interventions per patient