2350 A scoping review of guidelines and resources to promote evidence-based prescribing for older people with sensory impairment

Introduction By 2030, hearing impairment is expected to affect one in four people globally (WHO, 2022) and one in five in the UK (Hearing Link, 2023). Visual impairment is projected to impact 2.7 million people in the UK by 2030 (ONS, 2020), rising to 4 million by 2050. The prevalence of hearing and visual impairment (hereafter referred to as sensory impairment (SI)) increases with age and older people with SI often experience substantial challenges with medicine management compared with older people without SI (Alhusein, 2019). This review aimed to identify guidelines and resources for prescribing decisions for older people with sensory impairment (OPwSI). Methods Standard Joanna Briggs Institute [JBI] methodology (Page, 2021) for scoping reviews was used. Electronic databases were searched: MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), Cochrane Library, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). Qualitative and quantitative studies published between January 2012 and April 2023 were included. Grey literature sources, including Google and Google Scholar, were also searched. Eligible studies focused on prescribing behaviour for OPwSI (aged ≥65 years) in primary care settings. Duplicate independent screening and data extraction was undertaken and critical appraisal completed for all included studies. Results A total of 3590 records were identified through database searching and 10 full text articles were retrieved. Grey literature identified a further 61 records. Despite extensive searches, no studies or resources fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Several generic guidelines and resources were identified related to medicines and safe prescribing for older adults in general i.e. without specified SIs. Conclusions This review highlights a dearth of guidelines or other resources to support safe and effective prescribing for OPwSI. There is an urgent need to provide bespoke guidance and/or the modification of existing guidelines, to address the additional medicine-related needs of OPwSI.