New findings suggest that women “remain underrepresented in clinical trials for common heart conditions” despite the fact that cardiovascular disease is a leading cause for death in women.
The findings were presented orally and then published in JAMA Network Open. The researchers “reviewed data from 1,079 cardiovascular clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov from 2017 to 2023. Women accounted for 41% of the study participants. Investigators found the proportion of women included in clinical trials for certain conditions was much lower than the proportion of women who have these conditions.”
The team “applied a ratio called the participation-to-prevalence ratio (PPR) to capture whether the percentage of women in a clinical trial reflected how common the condition is among women. The participation-to-prevalence ratios for women were lowest for trials of coronary heart disease, acute coronary syndrome and stroke. Research on obesity and pulmonary hypertension had much higher female participation.” Younger women aged 19 to 55 were also more likely to participate in clinical trials than women 61 or older.
The authors recommend “researchers improve outreach efforts to female patients” in an attempt to bridge the gap. Additionally, they suggest studies “continue enrolling until the number of women in the study reflects the proportion of women with that condition.”
