ArticlePloS one2016
Prevalence and Characteristics of Interventional Trials Conducted Exclusively in Elderly Persons: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Registered Clinical Trials.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness and safety of chronic diuretic use in older adults: an umbrella review of recently published systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized-controlled trials.European geriatric medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Long-term effect of community-based continence promotion on urinary symptoms, falls and healthy active life expectancy among older women: cluster randomised trial.Age and ageing · 2019Trial
- Associations between health-related quality of life, physical function and fear of falling in older fallers receiving home care.BMC geriatrics · 2018Trial
- Efficacy of Umeclidinium/Vilanterol in Elderly Patients with COPD: A Pooled Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Drugs & aging · 2018Trial
- Trial
- A Narrative Review of Medication Optimisation in Older Adults with Polypharmacy: From Structured Medication Review to AI-Enabled Medication Safety.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Diuretics in Cardiovascular Disease: For How Long and at What Dose?Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026Review
- "How did I fall?"A narrative analysis of fall experiences among older adults in China.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Characteristics and potential predictors of prematurely terminated interventional clinical trials for ovarian cancer in the ClinicalTrials.gov database.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Experience of Being Fall-Prone and Participating in Research: Fallers' Perspectives.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2025Article
- Generative Language Models and Open Notes: Exploring the Promise and Limitations.JMIR medical education · 2024Article
- Clinical trial diversity: An opportunity for improved insight into the determinants of variability in drug response.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2022Review
- Trends and variation in data quality and availability on the European Union Clinical Trials Register: A cross-sectional study.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2022Article
- Effect of Age on Efficacy and Safety of Fluticasone Furoate/Vilanterol (FF/VI), Umeclidinium (UMEC), and UMEC + FF/VI in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Analyses of Five Randomized Clinical Trials.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2021Article
- The Inclusion of Economic Endpoints as Outcomes in Clinical Trials Reported to ClinicalTrials.gov.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2020Article
- A research tool for measuring non-participation of older people in research on digital health.BMC public health · 2019Review
- Efficacy and Safety of Etanercept in Elderly Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Post-Hoc Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Drugs & aging · 2019Article
- Pragmatic clinical trials in the context of regulation of medicines.Upsala journal of medical sciences · 2019Article
- Generative artificial intelligence writing open notes: A mixed methods assessment of the functionality of GPT 3.5 and GPT 4.0.Digital healthArticle
- An Audit of Clinical Studies Involving Elderly Population Registered in Clinical Trials Registry of India.Journal of mid-life healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundElderly patients represent the greatest consumers of healthcare per capita but have historically been underrepresented in clinical trials. It is unknown how many trials are designed to focus exclusively on elderly patients.
objectiveTo define the prevalence of interventional trials that study exclusively elderly persons and describe the characteristics of these trials, including their distribution across conditions most prevalent in the elderly.
designAll interventional clinical trials enrolling exclusively elderly patients (≥65 years), conducted primarily in high-income countries, and initiated between 2006 and 2014, identified through ClincialTrials.gov. MAIN MEASURES: Trials were identified and characterized according to design features and disease categories studied. Across disease categories we examined the burden of disease in the elderly in high-income countries (measured in disability-adjusted life years [DALYs]) and compared to the number of trials conducted exclusively in the elderly.
resultsAmong 80,965 interventional trials, 1,112 (1.4%) focused on elderly patients. Diverse types of interventions were studied in these trials (medications 33%, behavioral interventions 18%, and dietary supplements 10%) and the majority was funded by non-profit organizations (81%). Studies tended to be small (median sample size 122 participants [IQR 58, 305]), single-center studies (67%). Only 43% of 126 disease categories affecting elderly persons were studied in trials focused on the elderly. Among these disease categories, there was a 5162-fold range in the ratio of DALYs per trial. Across 5 conditions where over 80% of DALYs are in the elderly, there were a total of only 117 trials done exclusively in the elderly.
conclusionsVery few and mostly small studies are conducted exclusively in elderly persons, even for conditions that affect almost exclusively the elderly.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.