Gender Representation in Clinical Trials
- Early-phase trials: Fewer than 30% of participants are women, reflecting a historical bias where male bodies were considered the default in drug testing.
- FDA-approved drugs: Over the past six years, the percentage of women included in trials has ranged from 40% to 72%.
- Specific diseases: In psychiatric disorders, women make up 60% of patients but only 42% of clinical trial participants.
Racial and Ethnic Representation
- 2020 U.S. clinical trials: Of 32,000 participants in trials for 53 new drugs, 75% were non-Hispanic White, 11% Hispanic, 8% Black, and 6% Asian.
- FDA data: Between 2000 and 2020, more than half of U.S. trials did not report enrollment data by race and ethnicity.
Age Representation in Clinical Trials
- Cancer trials: Older adults make up 56% of the global cancer population but constitute just 40% of participants in trials for new cancer therapies.
- Alzheimer’s research: Only 10% of dementia patients are given the chance to participate in research.
You Can Contribute — Even if You’re Healthy
You don’t need to have a medical condition to participate in research. Healthy volunteers play a crucial role in understanding how treatments, lifestyles, and everyday habits affect the body.
- Lifestyle studies: Some research focuses on nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, or other daily habits — helping improve general wellness for everyone.
- Control groups: Healthy participants are often included to compare results, helping scientists understand what’s “normal” versus what’s influenced by a condition.
- Low-risk opportunities: Not all studies involve medications or procedures. Many involve surveys, wearables, blood samples, or observational monitoring — ways to contribute safely.
By participating, you help create more accurate, inclusive research that benefits everyone, now and in the future.
You Can Contribute — Even if You’re Healthy
You don’t need to have a medical condition to participate in research. Healthy volunteers play a crucial role in understanding how treatments, lifestyles, and everyday habits affect the body.
- Lifestyle studies: Some research focuses on nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, or other daily habits — helping improve general wellness for everyone.
- Control groups: Healthy participants are often included to compare results, helping scientists understand what’s “normal” versus what’s influenced by a condition.
- Low-risk opportunities: Not all studies involve medications or procedures. Many involve surveys, wearables, blood samples, or observational monitoring — ways to contribute safely.
By participating, you help create more accurate, inclusive research that benefits everyone, now and in the future.
- Informed consent: A written explanation of the study, risks, benefits and your rights. Ask for one in plain language.
- Data anonymisation: Names are removed from the data researchers analyse.
- Limit on use: Ethical studies say what data will be used for and who it might be shared with.
- Right to stop: You can withdraw at any time; check whether and how your data can be removed.
- Secure storage: Data should be kept on protected systems with limited access.
If anything sounds unclear, ask for it to be explained plainly — that’s your right.