The age gap between patients in clinical studies and in the general population: a pitfall for dementia research

Niels Schoenmaker, Willem A. van Gool

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialAcademicpeer-review

70 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The growing global disease burden attributable to dementia has strongly stimulated research activities. However, patients with dementia that are included in clinical research are systematically younger than patients from the general population. This large age gap perhaps indicates a lack of methodological rigour, but, more importantly, has the potential to affect the interpretation of research finding-eg, those relating to neuropathology, apolipoprotein E polymorphisms, the effects of cholinesterase inhibitors, and many other issues relevant to patients with dementia. Research on dementia has a lot to gain from the study of patients that more appropriately reflect the population at risk
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)627-630
JournalLancet neurology
Volume3
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2004

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