Asian, Black patients underrepresented in rosacea trials

Key takeaways:

• Asian and Black patients were underrepresented in trials according to predicted disease rates (1.2% vs. 2.3%; 0.9% vs. 2%, respectively).
• Hispanic or Latino patients were overrepresented (32.4% vs. 3.9%).

NEW YORK — Clinical trials for rosacea lack diversity reflective of the U.S. census and disease rates, according to a poster presentation at the Skin of Color Update 2023 meeting.

“Rosacea is less frequently reported in individuals with skin of color,” Loren E. Hernandez, MD, of the Dr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote in their poster.

According to a 1993 to 2010 U.S. National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey on the racial and ethnic distribution of rosacea, 3.9% of patients with rosacea were Hispanic or Latino, 2.3% were Asian or Pacific Islander and 2% were Black.

“These lower prevalence rates may be attributed to the more nuanced detection of erythema and telangiectasia in individuals with darker skin tones,” the authors wrote, adding that this can lead to delayed diagnosis.

In their study, the authors assessed the racial and ethnic distribution of participants in rosacea trials in the U.S. compared with census data from 2020.

Using data from clinicaltrials.gov, the authors compiled 57 trials totaling 17,497 participants. Thirty of the 57 trials reported race, 26 reported ethnicity and 24 reported both.

The trials that reported race included 10,970 participants total; however, 96.8% of those participants were white, whereas only 1.2% were Asian and 0.9% were Black. The remaining participants were more than one race (0.4%) or an unreported race (0.3%).

The percentage of Asian and Black participants did not coincide with the general census data (6.1% and 13.6%, respectively) or reported rates of disease among these populations (2.3% and 2%, respectively). This indicates that both Asian and Black patients are underrepresented in rosacea trials, according to the authors.

On the other hand, 32.4% of participants in the studies identified as Hispanic or Latino which shows an overrepresentation of this population compared with general census data (18.9%) and rosacea rates (3.9%).

“Ensuring rosacea clinical trial representation that is consistent and reflective of current United States population demographics can improve clinical understanding and decrease health inequity,” the authors concluded.