We are living in an era of unprecedented aging, with over a billion older people expected to be alive within a few decades. Despite this predictable demographic, drug trials have not kept pace with change and we now have significant evidence-practice gaps. These have arisen due to inappropriate age limits in randomized controlled trials and the near-universal exclusion of frail older people from studies. Suggested solutions include the abolition of age limits in new randomized controlled trials, and the routine measurement of frailty, with a new generation of randomized controlled trials to establish whether treatments remain effective and safe in old age and increasing frailty. We should all have a personal interest in ensuring that drugs used in our old age are truly effective.
AD - George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. richard.lindley@sydney.edu.au AN - 21546581 BT - Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences ET - 2011/05/07 LA - eng M1 - 2 N1 - Lindley, Richard IReviewUnited StatesThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciencesJ Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2012 Feb;67(2):152-7. Epub 2011 May 5. N2 -We are living in an era of unprecedented aging, with over a billion older people expected to be alive within a few decades. Despite this predictable demographic, drug trials have not kept pace with change and we now have significant evidence-practice gaps. These have arisen due to inappropriate age limits in randomized controlled trials and the near-universal exclusion of frail older people from studies. Suggested solutions include the abolition of age limits in new randomized controlled trials, and the routine measurement of frailty, with a new generation of randomized controlled trials to establish whether treatments remain effective and safe in old age and increasing frailty. We should all have a personal interest in ensuring that drugs used in our old age are truly effective.
PY - 2012 SN - 1758-535X (Electronic)1079-5006 (Linking) SP - 152 EP - 7 T2 - Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences TI - Drug trials for older people VL - 67 ER -