RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Inclusion of older patients with cancer in randomised controlled trials with patient-reported outcomes: a systematic review
JF BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
JO BMJ Support Palliat Care
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP 451
OP 463
DO 10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001902
VO 9
IS 4
A1 Francesco Sparano
A1 Neil K Aaronson
A1 Mirjam A G Sprangers
A1 Peter Fayers
A1 Andrea Pusic
A1 Jacobien M Kieffer
A1 Francesco Cottone
A1 Jonathan Rees
A1 Mike Pezold
A1 Amelie Anota
A1 Emilie Charton
A1 Marco Vignetti
A1 Chonghua Wan
A1 Jane Blazeby
A1 Fabio Efficace
YR 2019
UL http://spcare.bmj.com/content/9/4/451.abstract
AB Objectives Inclusion of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in cancer randomised controlled trials (RCTs) may be particularly important for older patients. The objectives of this systematic review were to quantify the frequency with which older patients are included in RCTs with PROs and to evaluate the quality of PRO reporting in those trials.Methods All RCTs with PRO endpoints, published between January 2004 and February 2019, which included a patient sample with a mean/median age ≥70 years, were considered for this systematic review. The following cancer malignancies were considered: breast, colorectal, lung, prostate, gynaecological and bladder cancer.Quality of PRO reporting was evaluated using the International Society for Quality of Life Research–PRO standards. Studies meeting at least two-thirds of these criteria were considered to have high-quality PRO reporting.Results Of 649 RCTs identified with a PRO endpoint, only 72 (11.1%) included older patients. Of these, 35 trials (48.6%) were conducted in patients with metastatic/advanced disease. PROs were primary endpoints in 20 RCTs (27.8%). Overall survival was the most frequently reported clinical outcome in studies of patients with metastatic/advanced cancer (n=28, 80%). One-third of the RCTs (n=24, 33.3%) were considered to have high-quality PRO reporting. Overall, the largest prevalence of RCTs with high-quality PRO reporting was observed in prostate and colorectal cancers.Conclusions Our review indicates not only that PRO–RCT-based studies in oncology rarely include older patients but also that completeness of PRO reporting of many of them is often suboptimal.