Most health problems increase with age, however, older adults are often left out of clinical research studies.
This can happen when studies set age cut-offs, don’t allow people with other health conditions to participate, or don’t address barriers to participation for older adults. Representation in clinical research is even lower among racially and ethnically diverse groups and those from rural communities.
Reducing the gap between real-world prevalence and clinical research participation will require effective and practical strategies to support the inclusion of older adults in research.
The participation to prevalence ratio (PPR) for adults ≥ 75 years old in landmark clinical trials of common chronic diseases. PPR = 1 means the % participation = % prevalence of the condition being studied. PPR < 1 indicates underrepresentation.