Addressing Equity in Arthritis Research
Improving Diversity In Research Participants
The Problem
Rheumatology research often doesn’t include patients who represent the diversity of the Canadian population, especially on factors such as gender, sex, age, race, geographic location and socioeconomic status. If all groups are not included in studies, we can’t tell whether they apply to them. This can lead to choices in treatment that are not appropriate and can negatively impact health outcomes.
The Solution
By improving the diversity of people who participate in research, scientists can make sure that study results apply to everyone and that treatments are equally effective for all groups. This will improve the impact of research in healthcare.
What the Study will do
By reviewing published research articles in Canada, the team identified how factors related to health inequities are reported in arthritis studies.
The Research Study
The study reviewed research articles published between 1990 and 2023 to analyze the ways in which researchers described patients. This showed that research studies in Canada don’t describe participants’ characteristics other than gender, sex, and age.
Details of factors that can lead to health inequity are lacking in randomized controlled trials on rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Researchers conclude that there is not enough representation of diverse groups of participants in trials and highlight the need for new ways of conducting research to increase the diversity of representation in studies and make the research process more inclusive and equitable.
Research Scientists
Mary De Vera
Senior Scientist, Pharmacoepidemiology, MSc, PhD, Associate Director of Training
Dr. Mary De Vera is a pharmacoepidemiologist and health services researcher in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia. She completed a BSc degree in Biochemistry at UBC and MSc and PhD degrees in Health Care and Epidemiology from the UBC School of Population and Public Health. She also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in perinatal pharmacoepidemiology at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and pharmaceutical outcomes research at UBC’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Megan Thomas
Research Trainee, BSc, MSc, PhD Candidate
Megan Thomas is a PhD student at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, specializing in epidemiology and health outcomes. Her supervisors are Dr. Mary De Vera and Dr. Mark Harrison. She completed both her MSc in Community Health Sciences and her Bachelor of Health Sciences honours degree at the University of Calgary. Megan has an interest in patient preferences, health equity, and patient-oriented research. Her thesis work will address equity considerations that impact access to research and care for patients with inflammatory arthritis.
