Abstract
Background and objectives
Elderly subjects are still poorly represented in clinical trials, because of unjustified upper age limits. The prejudged reluctance of elderly patients to participate in trials could also be a barrier to their inclusion. The objective of this pilot study was to clarify the position of elderly subjects on their motivations and the reasons for their ultimate refusal to participate in clinical trials.
Method
A questionnaire survey was administered to 150 elderly subjects, aged 70 years or over, living at home, in long-term care units, or hospitalized.
Results
Only 44 % of the sample population answered that they would agree to participate in a trial that afforded personal benefit. These results did not depend on age but rather on health condition and sex. Motivations were mostly altruistic rather than based on personal concerns. The main reasons for refusal were fear that the experiment could damage their health and that they thought they were too old.
Conclusion
Elderly subjects are not inclined to participate in clinical trials. In the future, we should aim to increase the information on clinical trials for older patients and train researchers appropriately if we wish to increase the participation levels of this age group in such trials. More research is needed on a larger sample.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the volunteer subjects for their participation in this study. No sources of funding were used to assist in the conduct of this study or the preparation of this article.
The authors have no potential conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study.
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Bloch, F., Charasz, N. Attitudes of Older Adults to Their Participation in Clinical Trials: A Pilot Study. Drugs Aging 31, 373–377 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-014-0168-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-014-0168-2