Women Underrepresented in Clinical Trials

An analysis of 10 years of clinical trials shows no improvement in diversity over time, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration established recommendations for increasing diversity in 1993. This is even more harmful because we now know that gender, race and ethnicity can affect responses to medications and require tailored treatments. In the clinical trials reviewed between 2008 and 2017, only 36% of participants were women, 4% were Black or African American, 12% were Asian and 11% were Hispanic/Latino. Women were particularly underrepresented in clinical trials for heart disease, heart failure and acute coronary syndrome compared to the proportion of women in the population who have these diseases. In the United States, the Go Red for Women initiative has helped create a community of women scientists, researchers, and medical and health professionals to close these gender disparities. Our goal at Women’s Cardiovascular Healthcare Foundation (Agir pour le Cœur des Femmes) is to create a similar initiative in France. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/women-and-minorities-lacking-in-research-and-clinical-trials-for-new-cardiometabolic-medications