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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 The importance of including women in clinical research is stressed in the U.S. National Institutes of Health's Revitalization Act of 1993, which states that enrolling adequate numbers of women in clinical trials allows for subgroup analysis.
Researchers have often been told to avoid including vulnerable populations in their studies, including women of childbearing age. "By protecting them from research, we're excluding them," Jagsi said.
Other barriers to clinical trial participation among women include lack of information and the perception that the studies will interfere with personal responsibilities, such as child care, previous research has found.
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And it is true that participating in research studies can be time intensive, Jagsi said. For women juggling the demands of child care, a cancer diagnosis and even a job, Jagsi suggests providing compensation to help with transportation or child care expenses could be helpful.
"Women today are often stretched very thin trying to deal with the balance between domestic responsibilities, their cancer diagnosis, and often a career as well," Jagsi said. "They may be particularly likely to find clinical trials too burdensome."
According to senior author Dr. Peter Ubel, director of the Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan, women are not intentionally underrepresented.
"Clinical researchers are not purposely trying to exclude women from their studies. All the more reason they need to consciously and earnestly revise their recruitment methods to give more women a chance to volunteer," Ubel said in the news release.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more on signing up for clinical trials.
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-- Jennifer Thomas
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