Adolescents left behind: underrepresentation in asthma randomised controlled trials.

Abstract

To guide adolescent asthma management, evidence of treatment efficacy and safety is needed. We searched multiple databases for randomised control trials (RCTs) of pharmaceutical asthma therapies recruiting adolescents and adults between 2015 and 2023 to ascertain the proportion of adolescents recruited. 81 RCTs were identified, with 49 (60.5%) not reporting the number/proportion of adolescents recruited. Where the proportion of adolescents was reported, this ranged between 1% and 49% (median 6.1%). Only 7 (8.6%) trials reported adolescent subgroup data. In published asthma RCTs, it is frequently unclear whether adolescents have been recruited, with the proportion low when reported. Consideration is needed when using this data to manage adolescent asthma.CRD42021233497.