Researchers looked at who participates in different types of heart failure research in the United States. They compared 62 clinical trials and 15 patient registries from 2010 to 2019. Clinical trials test new treatments, while registries track patients' health over time in real-world settings.
The main finding was that Black participants made up a smaller percentage of people in heart failure registries than in clinical trials. Specifically, registries had about 21.8% Black participants compared to 30.4% in trials. For all non-White participants combined, registries also had lower percentages, but this difference was not statistically significant.
This study only looked at enrollment numbers—it didn't examine why these differences exist or whether they affect patient outcomes. The research was limited to US studies from one decade, so we don't know if similar patterns exist elsewhere or in more recent years. Readers should understand this as an observation about research participation patterns, not as evidence about treatment effectiveness or healthcare quality.