Protocol for a systematic review and systems-based exploration of interventions to reduce medicines wastage

Introduction A reduction in medicines wastage is an important objective in promoting appropriate use of finite resources. The objective of this systematic review is to both assess the effectiveness of interventions to reduce medicines wastage, and apply a systems based exploration of the factors affecting implementation of interventions. Methods A systematic review will be conducted following PRISMA reporting guidelines. Searches will be performed in Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, Medline, PubMed, Science Citation Index, PsycInfo, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, grey literature, and trials registries. Data extraction and critical appraisal will be completed independently by two reviewers. If studies are sufficiently homogenous in terms of design and comparators, we will conduct a meta-analysis. Where this is not possible, we will provide a narrative synthesis of results grouping studies with similar interventions together. The barriers and enablers of the described interventions will then be analysed using the Systems Engineering Initiative in Patient Safety (SEIPS 101) model. Conclusions This review will describe the effectiveness of interventions to reduce medicines wastage and issues associated with their implementation in order to inform policy development and intervention implementation in the future. This will have the potential to reduce both the economic and environmental burden of medicines wastage on the health service. PROSPERO registration CRD42022335848 (12/06/2022)