In the United States, Black Americans have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials, representing just 5 percent of all participants. This lack of representation, partially due to Black Americans’ mistrust in the medical community, could lead to invalid research conclusions and perpetuate ongoing racial disparities in healthcare outcomes.
However, increasing diversity within the scientific community could mitigate the racial disparity in clinical research participants. According to a new study led by Harvard University, Black Americans are more interested in participating in clinical trials when they are led by a Black principal investigator.
The study authors recruited a sample of 323 Black Americans and presented each participant with randomly assigned images of investigators at the National Institutes of Health. The participants were then asked how interested they would be in taking part in a clinical study led by each investigator. According to the authors, Black Americans’ interest in clinical trials increased by 12.6 percent when the study was led by a Black investigator.
“Increasing trust among Black communities requires the medical profession to become more trustworthy,” the authors write. “Part of building trust is increasing the opportunity for members of underrepresented groups to be in positions of authority, including as principal investigators and physicians.”
However, the authors caution that increasing diversity among scientific researchers is unlikely to be a comprehensive solution to the racial disparities in clinical trial participation. They suggest future research should examine the importance of investigator demographics relative to Black Americans’ barriers in accessing medical care and obtaining information about study opportunities, as well as the financial burdens associated with healthcare.
In addition to Harvard, the research team included authors from Cornell University, Pompeu Fabra University in Spain, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
