Minority enrollment in Parkinson's disease clinical trials

Under-representation of minorities in clinical trials limits access to information relevant to all segments of the population. We assessed the enrollment of minority subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) into clinical trials. We searched PubMed for published studies of PD trials conducted in the US over the past 20 years and found that only 41 reported racial/ethnic participation (17%). In those trials reporting race/ethnicity, 8% of subjects were non-white, compared to 20% of the non-white US population over age 60. Results of this study identified the need for better reporting of racial composition in clinical trials and for the enrollment of more minority participants in research studies.