Toward Enhancing Clinical Trial Diversity

Clinical trials are considered the gold standard for biomedical research, and they are the preferred method to support the safety and efficacy evaluation of medical products and devices. However, safety and effectiveness can vary substantially among different subgroups of a target population according to both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as age, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, lifestyle, and location. Moreover, some groups continue to be inconsistently included in clinical trials based on their representation in the total afflicted population, which demands serious resolution. From literature review, this article imparts several possible strategies to overcome obstacles in clinical trial access and enrichment.