Older Adults Excluded, Underrepresented in Clinical Trials for COVID-19

A preliminary study at Harvard Medical School found that older adults are routinely excluded from participating in COVID-19 clinical trials, reports the Stanford Daily . The researchers determined that 15 percent of clinical trials for COVID-19 exclude adults between 65 and 80 years old. Harvard Professor Marina Martin said senior underrepresentation in trials may lead to inaccurate data and exacerbate the situation for older adults, who are already highly vulnerable to virus-related complications. "With vaccine research, if we only test a vaccine in a younger population, we run the risk of having a vaccine that doesn't work on older adults," she warned. "And then, the most vulnerable population will still be at an increased risk and will remain a group in which the virus can thrive and proliferate." Another 12 percent of trials indirectly excluded older adults by disqualifying those with health conditions that disproportionately affect seniors, like hypertension and diabetes. Researchers and medical professionals blame exclusions on the higher number of comorbidities in older adults, such as dementia, which can potentially lead to challenges in performing trials. Because increasing numbers of older adults are living longer, Martin said they should be included in clinical trials more often in order to measure the effect of COVID-19 treatments in older populations.