Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jun;29(6):915-9.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-013-2719-3.

Making general internal medicine research relevant to the older patient with multiple chronic comorbidities

Lee A Lindquist  1 , Kenneth Covinsky, Kenneth M Langa, Brent G Petty, Brent C Williams, Jean S Kutner
Affiliations

Making general internal medicine research relevant to the older patient with multiple chronic comorbidities

Lee A Lindquist et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

General Internal Medicine research evolves in response to the needs of the patients to whom we provide care. Currently, many studies exclude older adults who deeply affect the clinical care of this population. With the number of older adults increasing, creating research protocols that include older adults with multiple chronic comorbidities is imperative. Through funding from the Association of Specialty Physicians, a working group of aging-responsive researchers from the Society of General Internal Medicine was convened to tackle this issue. The goal of this article is threefold: 1) to shed light on the current exclusion of older adults in research; 2) to identify and propose research protocol solutions for overcoming barriers to including older adults in research; and 3) to provide suggestions for research funding. The extent to which these recommendations can create change depends greatly on our researcher colleagues. By embracing these challenges, we hope that the care provided to older adults with multiple chronic conditions will no longer be extrapolated, but become evidence-based.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. McMurdo MET, Witham MD, Gillespie ND. Including older people in clinical research—benefits shown in trials in younger people may not apply to older people. Br Med J. 2005;331(7524):1036–7. doi: 10.1136/bmj.331.7524.1036. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zulman DM, Sussman JB, Chen X, Cigolle CT, Blaum CS, Hayward RA. Examining the evidence: a systematic review of the inclusion and analysis of older adults in randomized controlled trials. J Gen Intern Med. 2011;26(7):783–90. doi: 10.1007/s11606-010-1629-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Van Spall HGC, Torn A, Kiss A, Fowler RA. Eligibility criteria of randomized controlled trials published in high-impact general medical journals—a systematic sampling review. JAMA. 2007;297(11):1233–40. doi: 10.1001/jama.297.11.1233. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ Policy on the Inclusion of Priority Populations in Research. US Department of Health and Human Services; 2003.
    1. US Government Accountability Office. Prescription drugs: FDA guidance and regulations related to data on elderly persons in clinical drug trials (GAO-07-47R). Washington, D.C.; 2007.

LinkOut - more resources