De-implementation of Low Value Castration for Men With Prostate Cancer - Living Well With Prostate Cancer

Project Background:

Prostate cancer is a leading male cancer. One in three men with prostate cancer is chemically castrated at some point with long-acting injectable drugs (i.e., androgen deprivation therapy or ADT). Although some patients benefit in terms of survival and symptom improvement, chemical castration with ADT is also commonly performed when there are little to no health benefits to patients raising questions of low-value care and overuse. A growing awareness of castration harms (e.g., heart attack, osteoporosis, loss of sexual function) also creates patient safety concerns. Despite this, ADT use in low-value cases, such as for localized prostate cancer treatment and biochemical recurrence in non-metastatic disease persists.

Ineffective and harmful practices such as chemical castration of prostate cancer patients with ADT outside of the evidence base are ideal targets for de-implementation. De-implementation, or stopping low value practices, has the potential to improve patient outcomes and decrease healthcare costs. For example, stopping low-value chemical castration overuse could prevent harm, limit spending, and maintain survival. However, provider preferences regarding de-implementation are not well understood, and possible de-implementation interventions range from blunt formulary restriction policies to shared decision-making. Blunt policy interventions such as formulary restriction of ADT (e.g., pre-authorization, order templates) might seem warranted given patient safety concerns, yet could result in significant provider resistance and work-arounds if introduced poorly. More nuanced, patient-centered interventions such as shared decision-making (e.g., decision aid, talking points) likely involve extra clinical time. Both intervention strategies need tailoring based on provider input for acceptability and feasibility in clinical practice, including piloting prior to trialing. As many medical practices lack evidence and cause harm, robust, behavioral theory-based methods for incorporating provider preferences into de-implementation strategy development will advance both implementation research and practice.

Project Objectives:

This study will compare two different de-implementation strategies that vary in delivery, impact, and expected results for reducing low-value ADT use.