Unjustified exclusion of elderly people from studies submitted to research ethics committee for approval: descriptive study.

Conclusions Snellen acuity is a poor indicator of an individual's chance of passing a number plate test, and it cannot be assumed that a driver with a visual acuity of 6/9 will meet the standard for driving. All drivers with 6/9 vision or less must be encouraged to self assess. Conversely, it should not be assumed that a driver with a visual acuity of 6/12 is below the standard for driving, particularly as loss of the right to drive has such far reaching social implications. 7 8 Advice that vision required for driving lies somewhere between 6/9 and 6/12 acuity could cause confusion if these points are not stressed. AB's current address is Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH. Contributors: ZC contributed to the design of the study and questionnaire, distribution of the questionnaire, patient testing, analysis of the results, and writing the paper; she will act as guarantor. AB contributed to the distribution of the questionnaire, patient testing, and writing the paper. IP contributed to the analysis of the results, patient testing, and writing the paper. 1 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority. At a glance guide to the current medical standards of fitness to drive. Vision testing and the elderly driver: is there a problem meriting policy change? Ageism in clinical practice 1 and published research 2 is well recognised. We were interested in whether research protocols submitted to the local research ethics committee contained unjustified upper age limits and how the committee dealt with this. We reviewed all studies submitted to Bro Taf local research ethics committee in the first seven months of 1999 to determine whether any upper age limits were justified and whether the committee had commented on such age restrictions. We then made a judgment on the appropriateness of the upper age limit. Of 225 studies whose protocols were reviewed, 65 were on topics or conditions that automatically excluded elderly people. Five studies specifically concerned elderly people and had a lower age limit but no upper limit. Of the remaining 155, 90 (58%) had an upper age limit, which ranged from 45 years (in a smoking cessation intervention) to 100 years (in a study of an open access mental health service), with a median of 70 years (interquartile range 65 to 75 years). In five studies an upper age limit was reasonable (participants were required to have no important disease, or prolonged follow up was …