Use Rwe to Improve Drug Information for Geriatric Patients

Abstract

Older adults are the main users of medications. However, they are usually excluded from clinical trials due to comorbidity and polypharmacy. Older adults, especially those 75 years and older, are underrepresented in clinical trials. This creates a unique opportunity to use RWE to improve the quantity and quality of drug information for geriatric patients. The quality of RWD is critical to have information on patient population, comparator, measurement, and endpoints. Data linkage is encouraged if key variables are not included in one data source. In addition, external controls based on RWE can be used when clinical trials are unethical or impractical. They can be applied for older adults, rare diseases, and under-represented minorities. For conditions common in older adults (e.g. Alzheimer's disease, lung cancer, and osteoporosis), RWE is greatly needed for all geriatric age groups. The entire spectrum of geriatric populations could identify age differences in efficacy and safety outcomes.