Addressing the Ethnicity Gap in Catechol O-Methyl Transferase Inhibitor Trials in Parkinson's Disease: A Review of Available Global Data

Overview

Journal J Pers Med

Date 2024 Sep 28

PMID 39338193

Authors

Karolina Poplawska-Domaszewicz

Naomi Limbachiya

Mubasher Qamar

Lucia Batzu

Shelley Jones

Anna Sauerbier

Silvia Rota

Yue Hui Lau

K Ray Chaudhuri

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors (COMT-Is) have significantly improved the quality of life and symptom management for those at advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Given that PD is one of the fastest-growing neurodegenerative diseases worldwide, there is a need to establish a clear framework for the systematic distribution of COMT-Is, considering inter-individual and intra-individual variations in patient response. One major barrier to this is the underrepresentation of ethnic minority participants in clinical trials investigating COMT-Is. To investigate this, we performed a narrative review. We searched PubMed for clinical trials investigating COMT-Is in patients with PD and examined the ethnic diversity of cohorts. A total of 63 articles were identified, with 34 trials found to match our inclusion criteria. Among the 34 trials meeting our inclusion criteria, only 8 reported participants' ethnic backgrounds. Our findings reveal a consistent underrepresentation of ethnic minority groups in trials investigating COMT-Is in PD cohorts-a trend that reflects broader concerns across clinical research. In this review, we explore potential reasons for the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in clinical trials and propose strategies to address this issue.

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