An audit of clinical studies involving elderly population registered in clinical trials registry of India

Context: The elderly in India form a heterogeneous subset of the population with significant disease burden variations. However, there are no data available regarding the type of research studies conducted in an elderly population in India. Aims: The aim of this study was to analyze the research studies conducted in the elderly population in India based on data from the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI). Settings and Design: This was an “audit” of available data on the CTRI website. Participants and Methods: Following exemption from the Institutional Ethics Committee, all studies in the elderly population registered in CTRI from its inception (July 2007 to August 2019) were reviewed. Data captured with respect to geographical distribution, study designs used, therapy area, trial registration, and funding. Statistical Analysis Used: The variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics using SPSS version 16.0. Results: Out of a total of 21,400 studies in CTRI, a total of 99 (0.46%) studies involved only elderly patients. Of these studies, 60 (60.6%) were interventional, whereas 39 (39.4%) were observational. Of all the interventional studies, 17 (28%) tested drugs, 26 (43%) tested a lifestyle intervention, and the rest were nutraceuticals, Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy, and physiotherapy. Postgraduate theses constituted 60 (60.6%) studies. Eighty-seven (87.9%) were academic projects, eight (8.1%) were government-funded studies, and only four (4%) were pharmaceutical-sponsored studies. The most commonly studied therapy area was the central nervous system, followed by community medicine and orthopedics. Conclusions: This study depicts the underrepresentation of the geriatric population in clinical studies.