Interventions to promote deprescribing are an important focus of
research. Key decisions for such interventions are whether to target one
or multiple medicines, and whether the intervention scope is
deprescribing, or also extends to other aspects of medicines
optimisation. This article reflects on how these decisions impact on
developing interventions and measuring outcomes. Many behavioural
strategies are common to deprescribing and medicines optimisation,
however operationalisation may differ. Aspects to consider include the
burden of multiple simple interventions versus one complex intervention,
the extent to which the approach to deprescribing can be specified as
part of the intervention, and variability in how the intervention is
delivered across patients and providers. Outcomes should be selected
based on the intervention target and scope and the audience for whom
evidence is being produced. These may include medication changes, and
process outcomes to assess intervention delivery. Targeting single
medications may allow for a focus on specific clinical or
symptom-related outcomes, rather than more general outcomes such as
adverse drug reactions. Cost-related outcomes are also important to
inform implementation decisions, and modelling approaches may be more
feasible for interventions targeting single medications.