Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30681181›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of clinical pharmacology2019

Under-representation of elderly in clinical trials: An analysis of the initial approval documents in the Food and Drug Administration database.

Rikje Ruiter, Jacobus Burggraaf, Robert Rissmann

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  6. Impact of the ONCORAL multidisciplinary city-hospital follow-up on older patients with cancer treated with oral anticancer drugs.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Rikje RuiterCentre for Human Drug Research, Leiden, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7563-2019
Jacobus BurggraafCentre for Human Drug Research, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Robert RissmannCentre for Human Drug Research, Leiden, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5867-9090

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsTo evaluate the availability of pharmacokinetic, safety and efficacy analyses specifically targeted at elderly, prior to the authorization of drugs.

methodsA cross-sectional, structured review of publicly available initial approval documents of Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs was performed. The 10 most frequently on-label prescribed drug classes, drugs with known pharmacokinetic differences in the elderly or drugs that are relatively contraindicated in elderly (e.g. anticholinergics or benzodiazepines) were included in the analyses.

resultsIn total, 1129 unique active pharmaceutical ingredients were found eligible for the analyses, of these, 506 were found in the Food and Drug Administration database (45%). The initial approval documents were available for 182 drugs. For the majority of the drugs, the initial approval documents in the database showed information on pharmacokinetics in elderly (n = 113; 62%). Furthermore, over time, the availability of information with regard to elderly increased statistically significantly from 0% in the period 1970-1979 to 76% for the period 2010-2018. Information on safety and efficacy was less frequently present, i.e. 42% and 45%, respectively and, moreover, the availability of information did not improve over time.

conclusionThe under-representation of elderly in clinical trials thereby challenging the external validity of benefit/risk assessments of launched drugs was confirmed. Priority should be given to a study population that is representative for the target population.

Indexed as

Drug ApprovalPatient SelectionAgedAged, 80 and overClinical Trials as TopicCross-Sectional StudiesDatabases, FactualHumansRisk AssessmentUnited StatesUnited States Food and Drug Administrationclinical trialsefficacyelderlypharmacokineticssafety

Identifiers

PMID30681181
PMCPMC6422639

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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.