Inappropriate prescription of unnecessary and potentially harmful medications continues to be a widespread problem for hospitalized patients. The investigators aim to study the prescription patterns of several classes of medications featured both in the Canadian Choosing Wisely campaign and the Beers Criteria for medication1,2. Specifically, this study will be looking at the patterns of sedatives (includes benzodiazepines, sedative-hypnotics, and sedating antipsychotics) prescriptions over time. The investigators aim to determine how closely these recommendations are adhered to on medical-surgical wards at five local hospitals (Sinai Health System, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, and St. Michael's Hospital); and to observe trends in prescribing before and after hospital-wide quality improvement initiatives.
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Rates of sedatives prescribed
Timeframe: 27 months