Marziyeh Barzegar, Hamidreza Miri, Samirerh Abedini, Farahnaz Kamali, Elham Boushehri
A comprehensive "real need" assessment, a step toward improving the quality of faculty development programs: A survey-based study in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences
Health science reports
background antidepressant use continually increased recent decades although effective treatment moderatetosevere depression longer clinical benefit deprescribing occur currently routine deprescribing part clinical practice research shows increase antidepressant users seeking informal support online small scoping exercise used mixedmethods online survey investigate motives antidepressant users joining social media deprescribing support groups elements groups valuable methods thirty members two antidepressant deprescribing facebook groups completed online survey quantitative opentext response questions determine participant characteristics motivation group membership quantitative data analysed using descriptive statistics opentext responses analysed thematically nvivo results two overarching themes evident first clinician expertise participants repeatedly reported perceived lack skills around deprescribing clinician included shared decisionmaking treatment symptoms withdrawal deprescribing going unaddressed motivated lack clinical support peer support developed second theme people sought help online received education knowledge sharing lived experience guidance tapering facebook groups also provided validation peer support motivated people continue engaging group conclusions antidepressant users wish cease medication increasingly subscribing specialised online support groups due lack information support clinicians study highlights ongoing need support groups improved clinician understanding complexities antidepressant deprescribing needed enable effectively engage shared decisionmaking patients