Observational studyAge and ageing2015
Much more medicine for the oldest old: trends in UK electronic clinical records.
Observational study in Age and ageing, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Exploring 'VOLITION' in Context - a Study to Inform the Implementation of a New Intervention
Open Randomised Multicentric Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Impact of an Intervention to Improve Drug Appropriateness in Polymedicated Patients According to the Person-centered Care Model by a Multidisciplinary Team At Primary Care
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions for involving older patients with multi-morbidity in decision-making during primary care consultations.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Sodium bicarbonate to improve physical function in patients over 60 years with advanced chronic kidney disease: the BiCARB RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Trial
- Age-dependent associations between physical activity and cognitive function in adults aged 70-100: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Clinical care patterns in the 10-years prior to primary total hip replacement: a matched population-based case-control analysis in England.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Health and Social Care Interventions in the 80 years Old and Over Population: An Evidence and Gap Map.Campbell systematic reviews · 2026Review
- Extracting geriatric syndromes from electronic health records: a scoping review.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of person-centred versus usual care in elderly patients: findings from a multicentre randomised controlled trial.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026Article
- Multimorbidity Patterns, Hospital Uses and Mortality by Race and Ethnicity Among Oldest-Old Patients.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- Characterizing patients at higher cardiovascular risk for prescribed stimulants: Learning from health records data with predictive analytics and data mining techniques.Computers in biology and medicine · 2025Article
- Deprescribing in older adults in a French community: a questionnaire study on patients' beliefs and attitudes.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Prevalence of polypharmacy and medication-related quality of life among adult patients in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.Journal of medicine and life · 2023Article
- Use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in Gerontology: Benefits, Considerations and a Promising Future.Clinical interventions in aging · 2023Review
- Article
- Underprescription of medications in older adults: causes, consequences and solutions-a narrative review.European geriatric medicine · 2021Review
- The growing impact of older patients in the emergency department: a 5-year retrospective analysis in Brazil.BMC emergency medicine · 2020Observational
- Dizziness and its association with walking speed and falls efficacy among older men and women in an urban population.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2020Article
- Gender Differences in Medication Use: A Drug Utilization Study Based on Real World Data.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- External validity of Adult Sepsis Event's simplified eSOFA criteria: a retrospective analysis of patients with confirmed infection in China.Annals of intensive care · 2020Article
- Randomised feasibility trial and embedded qualitative process evaluation of a new intervention to facilitate the involvement of older patients with multimorbidity in decision-making about their healthcare during general practice consultations: the VOLITION study protocol.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2020Article
- Socio-economic inequalities in life expectancy of older adults with and without multimorbidity: a record linkage study of 1.1 million people in England.International journal of epidemiology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundthe oldest old (85+) pose complex medical challenges. Both underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis are claimed in this group.
objectiveto estimate diagnosis, prescribing and hospital admission prevalence from 2003/4 to 2011/12, to monitor trends in medicalisation. DESIGN AND
settingobservational study of Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) electronic medical records from general practice populations (eligible; n = 27,109) with oversampling of the oldest old.
methodswe identified 18 common diseases and five geriatric syndromes (dizziness, incontinence, skin ulcers, falls and fractures) from Read codes. We counted medications prescribed ≥1 time in all quarters of studied years.
resultsthere were major increases in recorded prevalence of most conditions in the 85+ group, especially chronic kidney disease (stages 3-5: prevalence <1% rising to 36.4%). The proportions of the 85+ group with ≥3 conditions rose from 32.2 to 55.1% (27.1 to 35.1% in the 65-84 year group). Geriatric syndrome trends were less marked. In the 85+ age group the proportion receiving no chronically prescribed medications fell from 29.6 to 13.6%, while the proportion on ≥3 rose from 44.6 to 66.2%. The proportion of 85+ year olds with ≥1 hospital admissions per year rose from 27.6 to 35.4%.
conclusionsthere has been a dramatic increase in the medicalisation of the oldest old, evident in increased diagnosis (likely partly due to better record keeping) but also increased prescribing and hospitalisation. Diagnostic trends especially for chronic kidney disease may raise concerns about overdiagnosis. These findings provide new urgency to questions about the appropriateness of multiple diagnostic labelling.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.