DEPRESCRIBING OLYMPICS QUIZ ANSWERS
1. Opioids kill more people each year than car crashes. How much more?
Answer: 50% more
Reference: Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) 2017
2. Which of these treatments help people fall asleep faster?
Answer: d) Sleep therapy (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) (23 minutes faster)
(Reference: Alessi et al. 2016)
c) Z-drugs (22 minutes faster) (Reference: Huedo-Medina et al. 2012)
a) Benzodiazepines (14 minutes faster) (Reference: Glass et al. 2005)
b) Melatonin (9 minutes faster) (Reference: Ferracioli-Oda et al. 2013)
3. How many Canadians are hospitalized every day due to opioids?
Answer: 16
Reference: CIHI 2017
4. When compared to francophones, anglophones seniors are more aware that sleeping pills can cause harm.
Answer: True
Canadian seniors who speak French are:
72% LESS likely to be aware that sleeping pills can cause harm
72% LESS likely to be aware of alternatives to sleeping pills therefore
36% MORE likely to take sleeping pills
Reference: Turner & Tannenbaum 2017
5. Driving the day after consuming a sleeping pill has the same risk of car crash as driving over the legal blood alcohol level?
Answer: True
Reference: Hansen et al. 2015
6. These medications increase the chance of falls for seniors. Which medication below most increases the chances of falling?
Answer: Antipsychotics
References: de Jong et al. 2013 & Huang et al. 2012
7. What percentage of Canadian seniors are willing to stop a medication if their doctor told them it was possible?
Answer: 71%
Reference: Sirois et al. 2016
8. When chronic opioids are stopped, people report which of the following? (WARNING: Multiple answers are correct)
Answer: Improved pain, improved function and improved quality of life
Reference: Frank et al. 2017
9. How many Canadian seniors have heard the word “deprescribing”?
Answer: 7%
Reference: Turner & Tannenbaum 2017
10. What percentage of Canadian seniors (over the age of 65) take at least 5 different prescription medications?
Answer: 62%
Reference: CIHI 2021
