SynthesisPloS one2015
Systematic Review: Representativeness of Participants in RCTs of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 7 of them syntheses 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identification of tools used to assess the external validity of randomized controlled trials in reviews: a systematic review of measurement properties.BMC medical research methodology · 2022Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of pharmacotherapy for Alzheimer's disease and for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia in older patients with moderate and severe functional impairments: a systematic review of controlled trials.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2021Pooled it
- Applying Game-Based Approaches for Physical Rehabilitation of Poststroke Patients: A Systematic Review.Journal of healthcare engineering · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Study of the strength of the evidence and the redundancy of the research on pharmacological treatment for Alzheimer's disease: a cumulative meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Discontinuation, Efficacy, and Safety of Cholinesterase Inhibitors for Alzheimer's Disease: a Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression of 43 Randomized Clinical Trials Enrolling 16 106 Patients.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Pooled it
- Head-to-head comparison of neurodegeneration biomarkers across two analytical platforms in Alzheimer's disease.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Article
- Health-related factors and their impact on blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease.Aging brain · 2026Article
- Add-on combination therapy with monoclonal antibodies: Implications for drug development.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Review
- Sleep is a therapeutic window for photostimulation of drainage of aging brain.Frontiers of optoelectronics · 2025Article
- Maximizing the benefit and managing the risk of anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody therapy for Alzheimer's disease: Strategies and research directions.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Review
- Identification of research gaps to improve care for healthy ageing:Family medicine and community health · 2024Article
- Pre-clinical Models for Geriatric Pharmacotherapy.Drugs & aging · 2024Review
- Can propensity score matching replace randomized controlled trials?World journal of methodology · 2024Review
- Machine learning enabled subgroup analysis with real-world data to inform clinical trial eligibility criteria design.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Efficacy of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors on Cognitive Function in Alzheimer's Disease. Review of Reviews.Biomedicines · 2021Review
- The role of sex and gender in the selection of Alzheimer patients for clinical trial pre-screening.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2021Article
- At baseline patients treated with esketamine have higher burden of disease than other patients with treatment resistant depression: Learnings from a population based study.Depression and anxiety · 2021Article
- Diagnosis and Management of Cognitive Concerns in the Oldest-Old.Current treatment options in neurology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether there are differences in age and sex distribution and presence of comorbidities between participants included in randomized controlled trials of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and nationwide cohort of persons with Alzheimer's disease.
methodsPubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library databases were searched for original articles from their inception to January 4, 2015. Double-blind randomized controlled trials with donepezil, rivastigmine or galantamine compared to placebo in participants with Alzheimer's disease were included. Data from a nationwide cohort of persons with clinically verified diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease was defined as a reference population.
results128 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, 31 of them fulfilled criteria. Mean age of participants in randomized controlled trials (n = 15,032) was 5.8 years lower (95% CI 5.7 to 5.9, P < 0.001), compared to the mean age of 79.7 years in the reference population with Alzheimer's disease (n = 28,093). Most of the articles did not report age distribution of participants. The proportion of women was 63.2% (9,475/14,991) in randomized controlled trials and 67.8% (19,043/28,093) (P < 0.001) in the reference population. Information on comorbidities and use of concomitant drugs were lacking or poorly reported in most articles.
conclusionsThere is a discrepancy between participants in randomized controlled trials of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and real-life population with Alzheimer's disease. Participants in randomized controlled trials were significantly younger. Further, more detailed reporting of age distribution, comorbidities and concomitant drugs would be important information for clinicians when evaluating conclusions from randomized controlled trials to real-life practice. The existing recommendations of inclusion of older people should be followed to ensure safe pharmacotherapy for older people.
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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.