This project will develop the Anticholinergic Medication Index (ACMI) tool to calculate anticholinergic medication burden for older people in a summary score, stratified by frailty. The tool will be developed using prognostic modelling techniques and tested using anonymised routine data from the Connected Bradford dataset of over 180,000 people aged 65 years and older to see how well the score predicts being admitted to hospital with confusion or a fall. This score will run in a computer-based system designed with pharmacists and doctors to help them review patients’ medicines and reduce harm from anticholinergic medications. The ACMI will be developed into a software tool with additional decision support resources and piloted in general practices in Bradford, before being offered for broader national use. The overall aim is to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes, and save NHS and social care costs.

Find out more about ACMI here