General Practitioners’ Barriers Toward Medication Reviews in Polymedicated Multimorbid Patients: How can a Focus on the Pharmacotherapy in an Outpatient Clinic Support GPs?

摘要

Purpose:The aim of this study was to explore whether general practitioners (GPs) experienced barriers toward medication reviews in polymedicated, multimorbid patients, and how a clinical pharmacologist with a focus on pharmacotherapy can support the GPs in an outpatient clinic.Design:The study was descriptive and exploratory and had a qualitative design with a phenomenological/hermeneutic orientation for the interviews.Participants:The study comprised 14 interviews with 14 different GPs from the Capital Region of Denmark.Results:Three themes emerged from the interviews: (1) The care of patients With polypharmacy is challenged by the lack of professional dialogue and collaboration between GPs and hospital-based clinical pharmacologists, (2) the relationship between the patients with polypharmacy and the GP is characterized by care and individual considerations, and (3) the culture encourages adding medication and inhibits dialogue about medication withdrawal even for patients with polypharmacy.Conclusion a...