Researchers at the University of Birmingham have recently developed and released the REP-EQUITY toolkit, which aims to guide representative and equitable inclusion in clinical research. Clinical trials that proceed without representative participation do not truly reflect how medical interventions can affect patients, which can lead to biases and impact research quality. The REP-EQUITY toolkit consists of seven steps that researchers should consider to facilitate a representative and equitable sample selection.
The paper describing the toolkit is available in Nature Medicine: Retzer A, Ciytak B, Khatsuria F, et al. A toolkit for capturing a representative and equitable sample in health research. Nat Med. 2023; 29: 3259-67; together with a corresponding Research Briefing.
A press release is also available from the University of Birmingham, with comments from the lead author, Dr Ameeta Retzer (ARC WM Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead).
Dr Ameeta Retzer has also filmed a short video on YouTube, together with Emily Lam, one of the Public Contributors, discussing the importance of this toolkit.