Early pandemic COVID-19 drug trials did not reflect the patient population according to a research study from the University of Georgia.
Researchers examined 12 studies where a majority of the participants in the trials were white males over 50 — yet during that trial period — Caucasians made up less than 40% of COVID-19 cases. In 7 of the studies, fewer than 10% of participants were Black even though Black patients made up one in 10 coronavirus cases during the study period.
Only 3 of studies examined had participants over the age of 60, who were the population most at risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19. Trials were also mostly male making it difficult to know how women could be affected by the drugs.
Researchers say this makes it difficult to apply these studies to the larger population.