Why medical research needs to be more inclusive — and what we’re doing about it

A new campaign at UCC aims to make health research more inclusive, to include under-served groups like women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, older adults, and people with disabilities

For decades, randomised trials — the gold standard for testing new treatments — have disproportionately involved white, male, and relatively healthy participants.

The covid-19 pandemic changed many aspects of our lives. One of the most notable shifts in healthcare has been a much greater awareness of how health outcomes differ across different communities — and how our medical research has not always kept up.

Take, for example, the pulse oximeter — a device usually clipped to a finger and used to monitor oxygen levels in patients. As low oxygen levels were key concern for those with severe covid, pulse oximeters were used a lot. They were also found to be significantly less accurate for people with darker skin, often overestimating oxygen levels and potentially delaying urgent treatment.