Patients may be more willing to participate in clinical studies when the research staff is of the same race or ethnicity, according to new findings from researchers at Boston Medical Center.
The retrospective study is based on an analysis of screening logs from 10 prospective clinical studies between 2015 and 2021 from BMC's eye clinic. The logs were used to document patients who were approached by research staff for participation during the recruitment period. Patients' decision on whether to participate and basic demographic information was among the data recorded in the logs. Demographic information on the research staff member who approached the patent about participation was also recorded.
Patients were much more likely to consent to clinical study participation when the research staff member was of the same race or ethnicity, according to the findings, which were published Oct. 19 in JAMA Ophthalmology. When that was the case, 65% of patients agreed to participate, relative to nearly 40% when staff were of a different race or ethnicity.
The research was focused on trials for ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma, which is known to disproportionately affect Black patients.
"Our hope is that this study will provide study sponsors and principal investigators with some strategies to help improve representation of those typically underrepresented in clinical studies," said Manju Subramanian, MD, an ophthalmologist at BMC and study author. "Further work is needed to investigate the effects of reducing other barriers to study participation, such as decreasing the burden of travel time and cost, promoting community support, and enhancing outreach efforts to improve equity in patient recruitment."