Enabling diversity in clinical research through a digital health platform
Health disparities and the opportunity of digital health platforms
In the U.S., health disparities and the exclusion of individuals from underrepresented and underserved communities from clinical research are prevalent across disease states:
Asthma is twice as prevalent in Puerto Rican and Black children than white children in the United States.
In 2015, Black and Latino or Hispanic individuals composed only 6% of participants in federally funded clinical trials, while they made up 30% of the U.S. population.
Contemplating or attempting suicide is four times more frequent for sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth than the general population.
Females that smoke the same number of cigarettes as males are 20-70% more likely to develop lung cancer.
In 2015, 23% of transgender people avoided seeking care out of fear of discrimination.
Black and American Indian/Alaska Native mothers are 2-3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white mothers.
These examples are a few of many that highlight the importance of active and thoughtful inclusion of underrepresented and underserved populations in clinical research. Digital health platforms are a powerful way to meet this need.
Digital health platforms like CareEvolution’s MyDataHelps™ have the potential to enable clinical research in diverse populations, removing barriers that exist with in-person studies. In-person research is often limited to participants with healthcare access, work-day flexibility, and the means to travel to their healthcare provider’s location. Digital clinical research opens up new routes of enrollment and data collection that reduces the burden of participation and meets participants where they are. MyDataHelps™ enables participant enrollment through a number of easily accessible means, including publicly shareable QR codes, study-specific PIN numbers, and custom HTML email invitations. In addition, a digital clinical study can still present a high-touch model to participants as needed—MyDataHelps™ has a coordinator enrollment mode that allows participants to enroll with a shared device. With a variety of enrollment options, people can elect to participate in a research study from their home, community center, church, etc., simply by using their email or scanning a QR code posted in a public location. They can also provide data using their smartphones or computers when it is convenient to them and without ever needing to travel to a doctor’s office.
An often cited concern for digital clinical research is technology access. However, as of February 2021, 85% of Americans own a smartphone (97% own a cell phone of any kind) and 77% have a desktop or laptop computer. American adult dependency on a smartphone for internet access (i.e., no traditional broadband service) is even down to 15%. In addition, technology usage among some underrepresented populations indicates many of these communities good candidates for participating in digital clinical studies – 85% of SGM people use social media in some capacity and 91% of people with a physical or mental disability use a smartphone or tablet. Collectively, these data point to the potential reach of digital health platforms being wide.