Clinical trials make up a primary foundation for modern medicine. While each clinical trial has its own individual goals, there is one shared priority across all medical research: To develop better treatments for patients.
Now, in order to develop treatments that positively impact the lives of all patients, it’s critical that the research itself includes a wide diversity of participants. As reported by medical researchers, the “more diverse a group of clinical trial participants, the more we can learn about the safety and efficacy of a potential medicine or vaccine.” Without this type of inclusion, clinical trials are essentially undermining their own goals.
But by ensuring racial diversity, gender inclusion, and participants from across socioeconomic statuses, clinical research can significantly reduce health disparities among underrepresented populations, and create new treatments that truly benefit all patients.
Racial Diversity in Clinical Trials
According to data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 75% of clinical trial participants in 2020 were white, while only 11% were Hispanic, 8% were Black, and 6% were Asian.
The weight of improving racial inclusion in clinical trials falls first onto the recruitment processes. When a trial is set to begin, it’s critical that the enrolled population represents the population(s) that may eventually be using the drug. If the recruitment process fails to establish this level of representation, it may be impossible for any resulting information or medication to be confidently recommended to patients whose communities were left out.
Another significant factor in improving racial diversity across clinical trials is the United States’ history with medical abuse in the form of non consensual examination and experimentation on people of color. The Tuskegee study is a well-known example of this, as are the undertreatment of pain and the perpetuation of prejudicial beliefs. Therefore, a mistrust of the healthcare system in the U.S. adds another layer of complexity to this topic.
Gender Inclusion in Medical Research
Historically, medical research has primarily tested medications on men, leading to detrimental effects on the health outcomes of non-male patients around the world. This is due to the genetic differences between genders, and the different ways that bodies metabolize foreign substances.
Although modern researchers do understand that accounting for sex as a biological variable is necessary to a rigorous research process, it still does not always happen. Today, actually, “you can [still] be prescribed a medication that has not been tested on someone like you” which means a drug could potentially prove ineffective or even negatively impact a patient’s health.
Still, research shows that barriers keeping women from participating in clinical trials include a misconception among study sponsors that it requires more resources to recruit women, and the “fear of harm to an unborn baby if a woman becomes pregnant” while participating in a trial.” This means that there are both systemic barriers and prejudices that are keeping gender inclusion from being the norm in clinical trials.
Overcoming Socioeconomic Differences
An individual’s socioeconomic status serves as a major predictor for their health outcomes. Access to quality health care, ample nutritious foods, prescribed medications, safe and consistent housing, and many other aspects of healthy living rely on income.
Thinking about the nature of a clinical trial, it can be more challenging to recruit people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Trials often require consistent transportation and availability during the traditional 9am to 5pm workday, among other factors. The people who are more inclined to exploring these options are the people for whom these are not barriers: wealthier people with higher socioeconomic statuses.
However, this does not need to be the case.
When researchers design a new clinical trial, they can include resources that help ensure people from lower socioeconomic statuses can still participate. These range from easily accessible locations to freely available childcare services to transportation vouchers. Each of these efforts help to make clinical trials more widely accessible and more widely useful.
Research for All
While the world of clinical trials still has room to improve, these three types of diversity are, thankfully, being more widely addressed in research today. As we move forward, it’s critical that each clinical trial continues to be designed purposely with diversity and accessibility in mind.
Here at PatientWing, we’re proud to be a part of this shift by enrolling patients in clinical trials for rare diseases, oncology, and other difficult to recruit conditions.
