02 Nov Pragmatic trials may help increase minority participation in MS research

DELIVER-MS shows racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials can be improved.

By Judy George, MedPage Today

Pragmatic trials may offer one way to increase minority populations in multiple sclerosis (MS) studies, investigators for the DELIVER-MS trial suggested.

Race and ethnicity did not appear to influence decisions to participate in either the randomized or observational cohorts of the pragmatic DELIVER-MS study, or in treatment choices, reported Sarah Planchon, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis in Ohio.

“Enrollment in DELIVER-MS mirrors the racial and ethnic distributions in the U.S. and U.K.,” she said in a presentation at the 2022 meeting of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).

“It is vital that clinical research is performed on diverse populations, so that we detect effects that may only be relevant in certain groups, ensure that results are relevant to all, and try to minimize health disparities,” she added.

MS occurs at the same rate in Black populations as it does in white populations and is significantly lower among Hispanic and Asian persons. But non-white persons with MS are dramatically underrepresented in MS clinical trials, noted Olga Ciccarelli, MD, PhD, of University College London, who wasn’t involved with the study. However, “DELIVER-MS showed a very good representation of ethnic groups,” Ciccarelli said. Read more …