Evidenced-based Medicine for the Elderly

The elderly and aged often suffer from the co-occurrence of several medical conditions at once, a phenomenon known as “multimorbidity” that requires suitable diagnostic and treatment methods. The number of multimorbid patients will continue to rise over the coming years, and yet the current methods, structures and guidelines in place to address these patients’ needs are insufficient.

At present, evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the gold standard of therapies in the field of medicine. Instead of relying on scientifically unproven subjective experience, doctors or therapists should be basing their treatments on external evidence found in clinical studies. These studies, however, often do not include elderly or very old people and also fail to take into account the specific features of their medical conditions and daily coping mechanisms. The norm is several illnesses at once – on average eight pathologies – while medicines are only tested against a single pathology. It is against this background that the working group focuses on the current state of affairs regarding the medical care of old people in Germany, analyses problem areas and assesses further research needs.

Institutions

National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech

Spokespersons of the Working Group

Prof. Dr. Cornel Sieber
Institut für Biomedizin des Alterns, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Zenner ML (Secretary of Class III and member of the Leopoldina Presidium)
Universitätsklinik für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Tübingen

Members of the Working Group

Prof. Dr. Annette Becker
Allgemeinmedizin, präventive und rehabilitative Medizin, Universität Marburg
Prof. Dr. Roland Eils
Theoretische Bioinformatik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg
Prof. Dr. Georg Ertl ML
Direktor der Medizinischen Klinik und Poliklinik I, Universität Würzburg
Prof. Dr. Jörg Hasford
Institut für medizinische Informationsverarbeitung, Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Prof. Dr. Dr. Jürgen Heesemann ML
Max-von-Pettenkofer-Institut, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Prof. Dr. Frank Jessen
Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Köln
Prof. Dr. Dr. Uwe Koch-Gromus
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Meyer
Institut für Gesundheits- und Pflegewissenschaft, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Prof. Dr. Henning Rosenau
Deutsches, Europäisches und Internationales Straf- und Strafprozessrecht, Medizin- und Biorecht, Universität Augsburg
Prof. Dr. Ursula M. Staudinger ML
Direktorin Columbia Aging Center, Mailman School of Public Health, New York (USA)
Prof. Dr. Dr. Daniel Strech
Institut für Geschichte, Ethik und Philosophie der Medizin, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Prof. Dr. Petra Thürmann
Philipp Klee-Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie, Wuppertal und Lehrstuhl für Klinische Pharmakologie, Universität Witten/Herdecke
Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Wahl
Psychologisches Institut der Universität Heidelberg