Geriatrics principles in health care of older adults and the use of real-world data in aging-related research

In this PhD project, we investigate how taking into consideration unique characteristics of older
patients, as well as using appropriate research methods and data to study this group, would allow for
better healthcare for this growing part of the population. As part of this PhD project, we performed two
studies using RWDs, which examined the role of geriatric principles in care of older adults. In the first
study, we used national survey of physicians to examine the use of potentially harmful first generation
antihistamines in older adults. In the second study, we examined the patient relevant measures of wellbeing in older adults diagnosed with multiple myeloma using longitudinal survey and claims data.
The structure of this thesis is as follows. The reminder of Section 1 contains the background on the
two topics that the PhD project focuses on – geriatrics principles in health care and RWDs. In subsection
1.2. we starts with describing the geriatric principles of care, and presenting the rationale for using them
in clinical care of older adults. Next, in subsection 1.3. we describe what RWDs are, and discuss their
potentials and limitations in health care research. Section 2 presents the overall goal of this PhD project,
as well as the detailed objectives of each of the two studies that are part of this PhD project. We
summarize each study in detail in Section 3, including the methodology, main results, and the studies’
contribution to understanding the two topics of the PhD project (geriatric principles in health care and
RWDs). The last subsection of Section 3, subsection 3.3., outlines the main conclusions the two PhD
studies. Section 4 includes the bibliography of sources used in this PhD project. Finally, section 5
includes the two publications included in this PhD project, as they were published.