Methods
Anonymised case studies were identified from the medical notes of
patients aged 65 and over with conditions likely to be associated with
multimorbidity, medication issues and polypharmacy: namely: fall,
urinary tract infection, confusion or lower respiratory tract infection.
A total of 39 doctors based on the acute medical admissions unit and 9
pharmacists were recruited to one of three focus groups. Patient
case-studies provided the context for discussion from which verbatim
transcripts were thematically analysed using an interpretative,
qualitative approach. Sub-themes were matched to Murshid and Mohaidin’s
proposed model of physician prescribing decisions.