“Get Me Off This Medication!”: A Comparison Between Gastroenterology and Primary Care Regarding Patient’s Perceptions of Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy

Background Not much is known about patient perceptions regarding proton pump inhibitor (PPI) de-escalation. We sought to determine the knowledge of adverse effects (AEs) and willingness to de-escalate therapy among patients presenting to primary care and subspecialty clinics. Methods We conducted an anonymous survey of patients presenting to family medicine, internal medicine, and gastroenterology clinics who use PPIs. Survey topics included awareness of and concern for AEs of PPIs, and willingness to de-escalate PPI therapy. Results The sample comprised 206 participants presenting to the gastroenterology (29.8%), internal medicine (32.2%), and family medicine clinics (38%). Of the participants, 16% were “extremely concerned” about AEs and 28.2% reported attempting to stop PPIs by themselves in the past. Many patients (54.9%) reported that providers had not discussed AEs before initiation. Patients visiting digestive disease clinics were no more likely to report discussions on AEs and de-escalation or discontinuation attempts compared to primary care patients (p-values > 0.05). On logistic regression analysis, concern for AEs and counseling regarding PPI discontinuation were found to be significantly associated with attempts to discontinue PPI. Conclusions Although many patients on PPIs are concerned about AEs, a low number of patients reported provider-initiated discussions on AEs of PPI at initiation.