Term	Definition
Adverse drug events	Any injuries resulting from medical intervention related to a drug.
Adverse drug withdrawal events	A subset of adverse drug events that refers to a clinical set of symptoms or signs that occur during or after the discontinuation of a medicine.
Adverse effects	Unwanted, harmful effects resulting from a medicine or intervention.
AGREE (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation) instrument	A critical appraisal tool used to assess the methodological rigour and transparency of clinical practice guidelines.
Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System	A system used to classify drugs based on their anatomical, therapeutic, and chemical properties.
Autonomy (in healthcare)	A person's right to make informed decisions about their own medical care, free from undue influence and coercion.
Benefits (of an intervention)	Positive and desirable outcomes or effects expected or resulting from an intervention (including a test or treatment).
Bioavailability (of a medicine)	The extent and rate at which the active moiety (drug or metabolite) enters the systemic circulation and is able to access the site of action.
Carer	A person (including family members, friends or neighbours) who provides assistance to someone who needs help with the tasks of daily living.
Chronic	Long-lasting or ongoing
Clinical practice guidelines	Systematically developed statements that include recommendations intended to assist practitioners and/or patients in making decisions about appropriate care in specific circumstances.
Cognition	Related to mental processes such as thinking, understanding, learning, and memory.
Common medicines	For the purposes of this guideline, 'common medicines' refer to the top 100 medicines, as determined based on prescription dispensing volume or the number of unique individuals dispensed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in the 2023 calendar year.
Comorbidity	The presence of one or more additional health conditions co-occurring with a primary condition.
Confidence interval (in statistics)	A statistical range that estimates the uncertainty around a measurement. When reported as 95% CI, it represents the range of values within which the true population parameter is expected to lie 95% of the time, if the same study were repeated under the same conditions.
Consensus-based recommendation	A recommendation based on available evidence, clinical expertise, and consumer/expert opinion, and formulated using a structured Delphi consensus process, after a systematic review of the evidence found insufficient quality evidence on which to base a recommendation.
Consumer	A person who uses or is a potential user of healthcare services, including patients, their family members, carers, and other individuals who are part of a patient's support network
Control group	The group that does not receive the treatment or intervention being tested (typically used as a comparison in a study).
Delphi	A research method that typically involves multiple rounds of surveys or questionnaires to gather expert opinions and achieve consensus on a specific topic. In the current guideline, consensus is defined as at least 75% agreement on each statement.
Deprescribing	Deprescribing is a person-centred process of medication withdrawal intended to achieve improved health outcomes through discontinuation of one or more medications that are either potentially harmful or no longer required. The process is undertaken as a partnership between the consumer and their healthcare provider.
Evidence-based recommendation	An evidence-based recommendation, according to the GRADE approach, is a clinical or policy recommendation that is concise, clear, actionable, and informed by a systematic and transparent assessment of the available research evidence, taking into account the balance between the benefits and risks of, individual's values and preferences, resource use, costs, acceptability, the feasibility of implementation, and health equity indicators.
Exacerbation	A worsening or flare-up of a disease or condition.
Frail	A state of increased vulnerability due to reduced physiological reserve across multiple physiological systems.
General practitioner	A General Practitioner (GP) is a specialist medical practitioner trained in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and management of both acute and chronic conditions. GPs also coordinate and oversee care arrangements. Most GPs work in primary care settings, where they play a central role in delivering comprehensive and continuous care across a broad range of health issues, including referring patients to other relevant specialists when needed.
Geriatric 5Ms	A framework that includes: Mind, Mobility, Medicines, Multicomplexity, and (what) Matters (most).
Good practice statement	A statement formulated using a structured Delphi consensus process, on a subject outside the scope of the systematic review, that is intended to support the guideline recommendations or implementation in practice.
GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) framework	A systematic framework commonly used in guideline developments to assess the certainty of evidence and determine the strength of recommendations in healthcare guidelines.
Harms (of a test or treatment)	Negative and undesirable outcomes or effects expected or resulting from an intervention (including a test or treatment).
Hazard ratio	A ratio of the rate at which one group experiences an outcome to the rate at which another group experiences an outcome of interest over time.
Healthcare professional	A person trained to deliver healthcare services.
Hyperbolic tapering	Hyperbolic tapering is a dose reduction strategy for certain medicines in which medicine doses are decreased in progressively smaller increments to achieve a linear reduction of receptor occupancy to minimise withdrawal symptoms.
Informed consent (in healthcare)	The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care defines informed consent as a person’s voluntary decision to agree to a healthcare treatment, procedure or other intervention that is made: 1) following the provision of accurate and relevant information about the healthcare intervention and alternative options available; and 2) with adequate knowledge and understanding of the benefits and material risks of the proposed intervention relevant to the person who would be having the treatment, procedure or other intervention.
Intermittent	Occurring at irregular intervals; not continuous.
Life expectancy	An estimate of the average number of years a person can expect to live.
Mean difference	A measure that quantifies the difference between the mean (i.e. average) values of two groups.
Medication adherence	The extent to which consumers take prescribed medicine in line with the agreed plan with the prescriber
Medication compliance	The extent to which consumers take their prescribed medicines exactly as instructed by the prescriber.
Monitoring	The process of observing and checking the progress or quality of a patient’s condition or therapy.
MRONJ	Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, a rare but serious side effect of certain medicines.
Multimodal	The use of more than one method or approach in treatment or care.
Multimorbidity	The presence of two or more chronic health conditions.
Odds ratio	A ratio of the odds of the event occurring in one group versus another group.
Off-label	The use of a medicine for a condition or population not specifically approved by regulatory authorities.
Older people	People aged 65 years and older for non-indigenous population or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 50 years and older.
Over-prescribing	The prescribing of medicines that are inappropriate, no longer necessary, or where the potential harms outweigh the benefits.
Palliative care	Palliative care is a specialised medical care for anyone living with a life-limiting illness, such as cancer or advanced stages of dementia, as well as their carers or family members. It involves multidimensional aspects and main goal is to prevent or ease suffering and improve the quality of life.
Person-centred care	Care that respects and responds to the preferences, needs and values of the individual and/or their family members or carers.
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme	An Australian government subsidy program that subsidises the cost of medicines for eligible individuals.
Pharmacist	The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Professional Practice Standards define a pharmacist as a person registered under the National Law (the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory) to practise in the pharmacy profession, other than as a student; or who holds non-practising registration in the pharmacy profession under the National Law.
Polypharmacy	The concurrent use of multiple medicines, typically defined as five or more, to treat one or more conditions.
Potentially inappropriate medicines	Medicines where the potential risks of harm or harmful interactions outweigh the expected benefits
Preference-sensitive decisions	Decisions where multiple options are available, and individual values, preferences, and priorities play a crucial role in determining the most suitable option.
Pro re nata	A Latin term meaning "as needed"; typically refers to medicines not taken on a fixed schedule.
Randomised controlled trial	A prospective study design that evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention or treatment by randomly assigning participants to different groups. This approach allows for the examination of cause-and-effect relationships between the intervention and specific outcomes.
Relative risk	A measure that compares the probability of an event occurring in one group versus the probability of that event occurring in another group, often used to assess the effect of an exposure or treatment.
Risk-benefit profile	The profile of the expected benefits and potential harms of a treatment or intervention.
Severe asthma	Asthma that remains uncontrolled despite adherence to optimised treatment and management of contributing factors, or that worsens when high-dose therapy is reduced.
Side effects	Unwanted, harmful effects resulting from a medicine or intervention.
Specialist provider	A healthcare professional with advanced training in a particular area of medicine.
Steroid-sparing	An alternative approach with the aim to reduce or avoid the use of corticosteroids.
Substitute decision-making	Substitute decision-making involves a legally appointed person making decisions for a person who can no longer make and/or communicate decisions on their own or with support
Supported decision-making	Supported decision-making approach enables an individual to make and/or communicate decisions about their own lives, with the appropriate level of assistance.
Systematic review	A rigorous research method used to systematically identify, select, appraise, and synthesise evidence from relevant studies on a specific topic using a predefined and structured approach. Statistical methods (meta-analysis) may or may not be used to analyse and summarise the results of the included studies.
Tapering	The gradual dose reduction of a medicine, typically to minimise or avoid withdrawal symptoms or adverse effects.
Titration	Adjusting the dose of a medicine, typically with the aim to achieve the desired effect with minimal side effects.
Trade-off	A compromise between benefits and risks or competing outcomes.
Under-prescribing	The omission of a medicine that is clinically indicated for the treatment or prevention of a condition or a disease, without a valid justification (also known as prescribing omissions).
Vulnerable	At increased susceptibility to the risk of harm due to physical, social, economic, and environmental factors or processes.