Background: Healthcare costs are rising, and a substantial proportion of medical care is of little value. De-implementation of low-value practices is important for improving overall health outcomes and reducing costs. We aimed to identify and synthesize randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on de-implementation interventions and to provide guidance to improve future research.
Methods: MEDLINE and Scopus up to May 24, 2021, for individual and cluster RCTs comparing de-implementation interventions to usual care, another intervention, or placebo. We applied independent duplicate assessment of eligibility, study characteristics, outcomes, intervention categories, implementation theories, and risk of bias.
Results: Of the 227 eligible trials, 145 (64%) were cluster randomized trials (median 24 clusters; median follow-up time 305 days), and 82 (36%) were individually randomized trials (median follow-up time 274 days). Of the trials, 118 (52%) were published after 2010, 149 (66%) were conducted in a primary care setting, 163 (72%) aimed to reduce the use of drug treatment, 194 (85%) measured the total volume of care, and 64 (28%) low-value care use as outcomes. Of the trials, 48 (21%) described a theoretical basis for the intervention, and 40 (18%) had the study tailored by context-specific factors. Of the de-implementation interventions, 193 (85%) were targeted at physicians, 115 (51%) tested educational sessions, and 152 (67%) multicomponent interventions. Missing data led to high risk of bias in 137 (60%) trials, followed by baseline imbalances in 99 (44%), and deficiencies in allocation concealment in 56 (25%).
Conclusions: De-implementation trials were mainly conducted in primary care and typically aimed to reduce low-value drug treatments. Limitations of current de-implementation research may have led to unreliable effect estimates and decreased clinical applicability of studied de-implementation strategies. We identified potential research gaps, including de-implementation in secondary and tertiary care settings, and interventions targeted at other than physicians. Future trials could be improved by favoring simpler intervention designs, better control of potential confounders, larger number of clusters in cluster trials, considering context-specific factors when planning the intervention (tailoring), and using a theoretical basis in intervention design.
Registration: OSF Open Science Framework hk4b2.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13012-022-01238-z | DOI Listing |
Emerg Med Australas
February 2025
Department of Emergency Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The continued use of low-value care interventions is a persisting challenge across the healthcare system despite targeted international efforts to reduce their use. These practices result in considerable economic and carbon costs. We present a model used to successfully de-implement four low-value care practices in a tertiary ED in Victoria, Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehav Anal Pract
December 2024
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Autism and Related Disabilities, Emory School of Medicine, 1920 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA.
Unlabelled: Naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) supports early social communication skills in young autistic children. Given their emphasis on child-led learning opportunities, NDBI is thought to be a socially valid approach to autism early intervention. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) practices could be an ideal setting to increase access to NDBIs for young autistic children; however, current ABA services continue to rely primarily on structured and adult-led approaches to teaching, including discrete trial training (DTT), which have been criticized for their intensity, limitations in skill generalization, and possible harms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSyst Rev
January 2025
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Background: Postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) involves using antibiotics after surgery to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). However, studies have shown that PAP offers no additional benefits compared to discontinuation after surgical incision closure, prompting its de-implementation to prevent unnecessary antibiotic use that may contribute to antibiotic resistance. We conducted this review to synthesize evidence for guiding the design and implementation of effective strategies for discontinuing PAP practice and optimizing antibiotic use in surgical settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Population Health and Optimal Health Practices Research Unit, Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec (Hôpital de L'Enfant-Jésus), Université Laval, 1401, 18e rue, Québec, Qc, Canada.
Background: Multifaceted interventions that address barriers and facilitators have been shown to be most effective for increasing the adoption of high-value care, but there is a knowledge gap on this type of intervention for the de-implementation of low-value care. Trauma is a high-risk setting for low-value care, such as unnecessary diagnostic imaging and the use of specialized resources. The aim of our study was to develop and assess the usability of a multifaceted intervention to reduce low-value injury care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEClinicalMedicine
September 2024
Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam Institute for Infection and Immunity, Amsterdam Public Health, the Netherlands.
Background: The use of peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) contributes to healthcare-associated infections. In 2017, we implemented a multifaceted de-implementation strategy that successfully reduced the inappropriate use of catheters in seven hospitals in the Netherlands (RICAT-1 study). Five years later, we investigated the sustainability of this strategy and the contributing factors.
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