Only 43% of clinical trials report race and ethnicity – What can be done?

Medical News Today
April 21, 2022
by Timothy Huzar

  • In a new study, researchers have analyzed over 20,000 clinical trials to determine if they reported data on race or ethnicity.
  • The researchers also looked at whether the participants in the trials were representative of the United States population.
  • The researchers found that over half of the clinical trials did not report race or ethnicity data, and that the trial participants recruited were generally not representative.

Clinical trials are used to determine if new therapies are safe and effective. However, if clinical trials are not diverse they may not be able to accurately predict how well the therapies will work — often to the detriment of marginalized communities.

A new study demonstrates that much more work needs to be done to ensure that the reporting and representation of race and ethnicity is equitable in clinical trials. ….

….According to Dr. Anna Zamora-Kapoor — community liaison for the Health Equity Research Center at Washington State University — a key factor that affects poor reporting and representation is historic unethical research practices. Dr. Zamora-Kapoor was not involved in the study.

The study appears in the journal Lancet Regional Health —The Americas.

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