Getting adequate illustration of racial and ethnic minority populations in clinical trials stays a pervasive problem, regardless of concerted efforts by researchers and mandates set by funding sources and regulatory companies. An absence of variety in analysis ends in continued disparities and poorer health outcomes in underrepresented communities.
An article in the January edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings proposes a variety of methods to assist researchers enhance neighborhood engagement with underrepresented racial and ethnic populations and scale back the “clinical trials disparity gap.”
“Through careful deliberation and involvement with community partners, researchers can develop tailored blueprints for clinical trials that can ensure that our science reflects the needs of all populations,” says Folakemi Odedina, Ph.D., first creator of the article, titled “Community Engagement Strategies for Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Populations.”
The article is the newest in a series of thematic reviews in Mayo Clinic Proceedings about the digital transformation of clinical trials to enhance healthcare and deal with health inequities via improvements in analysis design.
Racial and ethnic minority populations stay underrepresented in clinical trials regardless of a long time of mandates, commitments and good intentions, Dr. Odedina says. “This inequity produces clinical trial demographics that are not representative and thus perpetuate health disparities in marginalized racial and ethnic communities,” she says.
Among the methods mentioned in the article:
- Making neighborhood engagement a key component of clinical trials design to realize consultant demographics and findings. “Community-engaged research is foundational to incorporating community voice and priorities into clinical and translational research,” the authors say.
- Using greatest practices for community-engaged trials, together with defining the neighborhood, figuring out neighborhood companions, figuring out the degree of neighborhood engagement and sustaining engagement over time to deepen relationships.
- Remaining open at the analysis degree to modifications that enable shared energy with the neighborhood and embody alternatives for enter and suggestions from the neighborhood for steady enchancment.
A demographically consultant and inclusive trial design is essential for optimum analysis, remedy and prevention choices to be made, particularly for underserved and marginalized populations, the authors say.
