Chari Cohen, DrPH, MPH: Healthcare Providers’ Role in HBV Clinical Trial Diversity

Healthcare providers play a pivotal role in promoting inclusivity and diversity in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) clinical trials, according to findings from a recent study.

The research was presented at The Liver Meeting 2024 from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Diego, California, by Chari Cohen, DrPH, MPH, president of the Hepatitis B Foundation. Findings from the qualitative study of 6 focus groups and 5 in-depth interviews in diverse communities suggest providers play a key role in diverse patient recruitment for HBV clinical trials.

“You want to make sure clinical trials reflect the populations that are most impacted by chronic hepatitis B,” Cohen explained to HCPLive. “I don't think this is unique to hepatitis B – it is a clinical trial issue – but what often happens is you see a lack of diversity among clinical trials… what winds up happening is you have drugs that may not reflect the populations that most need it."

To investigate patient perspectives on how providers can foster diverse representation in future HBV trials, she and a team of investigators conducted focus groups and in-depth interviews in Vietnamese, West African, Somalian, Korean, Chinese, and Caucasian communities. Inquiries focused on current perceptions of clinical trials; barriers to participation; factors affecting willingness to participate; and suggestions for enhancing inclusivity among diverse populations in future clinical trial recruitment.

Participants indicated they felt providers play 3 key roles in patient recruitment:

• Bridging knowledge gaps surrounding clinical trials
• Nurturing patient relationships, particularly with ethnic minorities
• Fostering trust in clinical trial participation by providing clear information and maintaining transparency

“I think there's a lot of work to be done, but I also think that means there's a lot of opportunity so we can work together,” Cohen explained. “I think what we need to do is bring the patient community and the provider community together to talk and see what they can learn from each other and how they can improve overall communication moving forward.”

Reference

^{Cohen C, Machado T, Ibrahim Y, et al. Role of healthcare providers in recruitment of minority populations living with hepatitis B in clinical trials. Paper presented at: AASLD’s The Liver Meeting 2024. San Diego, California. November 15-19, 2024.}