Wednesday, April 2, 2008

ACC presentation: Making progress including women in clinical trials
By Kelly Winget

Over the past 30+ years, the number of women participating in clinical cardiology trials has increased, but participation will have to increase even more for researchers to provide evidence-based, sex-specific treatment recommendations, according to a new study.

These findings, led by the DCRI's Chiara Melloni, MD, and senior author Kristin Newby, MD, were presented at the American College of Cardiology 2008 Scientific Sessions.

Researchers analyzed the numbers of women included in 156 randomized trials, which were cited by the 2007 AHA Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women.

Women made up 30 percent of the total trial participants, up significantly from 1970, when women only comprised 9 percent of total participants. When comparing participation in the U.S. and abroad, women in the U.S. made up 45 percent of participants, compared to 26 percent in other countries.

Participation by women varied depending on the clinical condition. Women made up 41 percent of participants in hypertension trials, 24 percent in coronary artery disease trials and only 17 percent in trials for high cholesterol.

For government-funded and privately-funded trials, women's participation was approximately 30 percent in both categories.

Dr. Newby said the increased participation of women in cardiovascular disease prevention trials was positive but said many areas of research are lacking in female participation. She said more robust efforts need to be made to further increase the number of women represented in clinical trials.