Prudent medication management in the last phase of life

Project summary

Patients with limited life expectancy are extra vulnerable to the harmful effects of medication. It is therefore important to reconsider medication for those patients. In practice, this reconsideration is, however, not often made. An important reason for this is the lack of research into the consequences of stopping medication. Another cause is the lack of guidelines that support the doctor when they decide to stop medication.

This research aims to investigate the effect on the quality of life of individual patients when automated advice about the use of medication in the last phase of life is provided to the doctor. A cluster randomized study is being conducted among patients with a life expectancy of three months to two weeks.

The research will lead to clear guidelines that can be used in practice for optimal use of medication in the final phase of life. The guidelines are furthermore implemented in a widely applicable automated advice.