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

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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.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatrics and General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Lee A. Lindquist MD, MPH, MBA

  2. Division of Geriatrics, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Kenneth Covinsky MD, MPH

  3. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Kenneth M. Langa MD, PhD & Brent C. Williams MD, MPH

  4. VA Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Kenneth M. Langa MD, PhD

  5. Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Brent G. Petty MD

  6. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA

    Jean S. Kutner MD, MPH

Authors
  1. Lee A. Lindquist MD, MPH, MBA
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  2. Kenneth Covinsky MD, MPH
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  3. Kenneth M. Langa MD, PhD
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  4. Brent G. Petty MD
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  5. Brent C. Williams MD, MPH
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  6. Jean S. Kutner MD, MPH
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Correspondence to Lee A. Lindquist MD, MPH, MBA.

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Lindquist, L.A., Covinsky, K., Langa, K.M. et al. Making General Internal Medicine Research Relevant to the Older Patient with Multiple Chronic Comorbidities. J GEN INTERN MED 29, 915–919 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-013-2719-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-013-2719-3

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