Despite the fact that seniors consume more medications than any other age demographic, more than half of clinical drug trials in the U.S. exclude elderly patients.
A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars at the University of Michigan, published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, reveals that one in five trials excluded patients based solely on their age. Of those that didn't expressly bar seniors, almost half excluded patients based on conditions that disproportionately affect older adults, such as mental or physical frailty.
Said study co-author Jeremy Sussman, "It is rarely appropriate to exclude people from clinical trials based on their age alone. This is especially true in trials investigating conditions that are common in older adults." The researchers urge companies conducting clinical drug trials to include more elderly patients to better serve this mushrooming segment of the population.
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