Making General Internal Medicine Research Relevant to the Older Patient with Multiple Chronic Comorbidities

• Published in: Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 915 - 919
• Main Authors: Lindquist, Lee A., Covinsky, Kenneth, Langa, Kenneth M., Petty, Brent G., Williams, Brent C., Kutner, Jean S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-06-2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Chronic Disease - epidemiology; Chronic Disease - therapy; Comorbidity; Epidemiologic Research Design; Geriatric Assessment; Gerontology; Health Status Indicators; Humans; Internal Medicine; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Outcome Assessment, Health Care - methods; Outcome Assessment, Health Care - organization & administration; Patient Outcome Assessment; Perspective; Adverse Event Monitoring; General Internal Medicine; Geriatric Condition; Multiple Chronic Condition; Potential Study Participant
• ISSN: 0884-8734; 1525-1497
• DOI: 10.1007/s11606-013-2719-3

ABSTRACT
General Internal Medicine research evolves in response to the needs of the patients to whom we provide care. Currently, many studies exclude older adults who deeply affect the clinical care of this population. With the number of older adults increasing, creating research protocols that include older adults with multiple chronic comorbidities is imperative. Through funding from the Association of Specialty Physicians, a working group of aging-responsive researchers from the Society of General Internal Medicine was convened to tackle this issue. The goal of this article is threefold: 1) to shed light on the current exclusion of older adults in research; 2) to identify and propose research protocol solutions for overcoming barriers to including older adults in research; and 3) to provide suggestions for research funding. The extent to which these recommendations can create change depends greatly on our researcher colleagues. By embracing these challenges, we hope that the care provided to older adults with multiple chronic conditions will no longer be extrapolated, but become evidence-based.