Healthy aging: can clinical trials deliver?

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Research Methodology
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Healthy aging research requires diverse and rich evidence.
• Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have limitations in providing diversity-oriented evidence.
• Transdisciplinary research methods can bridge evidence gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential of Quali-Quantitative Analysis (QQA) for healthy aging research.
• To assess QQA's ability to deliver richer, diversity-oriented evidence.
• To examine how QQA can complement existing research methods like RCTs.

Main Methods:

• Review of literature on healthy aging and Quali-Quantitative Analysis (QQA) methodology.
• Description of QQA techniques, focusing on treating cases as configurations.
• Exploration of evidence needs in healthy aging research.

Main Results:

• QQA can provide evidence in combinatorial forms beneficial for holistic practice.
• QQA offers rigorous insights from small-N groups, applicable within and outside RCTs.
• QQA can enhance the theoretical advancements generated by RCTs.

Conclusions:

• Quali-Quantitative Analysis (QQA) presents significant potential for advancing healthy aging research.
• QQA complements RCTs by providing richer, combinatorial evidence, particularly for small-N studies.
• The method supports holistic practice and theoretical development in gerontology.