Benefits and Risks of Participating in Clinical Research

What are the benefits of participating in clinical research?

Participating in clinical research, or clinical studies, may be beneficial for both you and other people with certain diseases. By participating, you are helping to provide valuable insight about new medications or procedures. You may also have access to potential medications before they are available on the market. Also, because you are part of a study you receive regular medical attention from doctors and other people that are part of the clinical study team.¹

Why do Black people need to be included in clinical research?

When there is a more diverse group of people participating in the study, the results will be more reflective of a more diverse population of people.² When the participants in the study have  limited demographics (race, age,etc), but the disease being studied affects a broader range of people in the normal population, the results of the study may not truly reflect how the drug would truly perform in the real world.

Studies that are more inclusive, especially in diseases that affect a more inclusive group of people, are able to help all people benefit from the study results. If you’re a person of color, or you are from an underserved community, participating in a clinical study may give you more access to newer, more advanced therapies than if you didn’t take part in the study.

Your participation as a Black person will give researchers much more information on how treatments impact Black people. This information may be used to change treatment guidelines and processes that physicians use to treat other people. This is exactly what happened when Adine participated in a clinical study to treat breast cancer.³ Her participation forever changed the way that some types of breast cancer are treated.

For some studies, there may also be financial benefits for your participation in the study. Some studies may offer payments to help with the additional costs for transportation, travel, childcare, etc.⁴

What are the risks associated with participating in clinical research?

You may be wondering if there are any risks to participating in clinical research. Yes, there are risks. Participation in the study may take more of a time commitment than if you weren’t in the study. You may have to make regular trips to the clinical study site, get more frequent blood tests and procedures than typical courses of treatment outside of the study. Depending on where you live, there may be extra costs associated with the additional visits for travel, housing, transportation, and childcare. There may also be some physical discomfort associated with the studies. 

Although there are risks to participating in clinical research, some studies have updated plans to make it easier for more people to access parts of the study.  For example, some studies are decentralized clinical studies, meaning that if you participate in the study you may not have to travel long distances to access a clinic for your check-in appointments. In some cases, you may be able to perform your visits by video conference using a computer from home. Other studies may have a nurse come to your home to perform lab work, and others may partner with clinic locations closer to your home if you live in a rural area.⁴

Interested in learning more? 

Find out why clinical research is so important for Black people in particular and how they are designed to protect us.