How does diversity impact clinical trials?
Click on this video to hear how diversity is important to clinical trials.
A person’s response to diseases and medications can depend on many things. Some factors include a person’s genes, ethnicity, sex, and lifestyle. Different groups can process medications differently. Also, medications that work for one group may not work for another. It is important to have diverse groups of people taking part in clinical trials so that the trials can:
- Produce study results that represent the general population.
- Make sure new treatments and medications work for people of all backgrounds.
If diverse groups of people take part in clinical trials, medications and treatments should work for more people.
Healthy participants in clinical trials further help researchers understand why some medicines work well for some people but do not work well for others. Learn more about why healthy volunteers are also important to clinical trials.