Representation of Females in Infusion Therapies for Parkinson's Disease
Author Information
Author(s): Katarzyna Smilowska, Vanessa Carvalho, Natalia Szejko, João Costa, Elena Moro, Angelo Antonini
Hypothesis
To estimate the representativeness of female in infusion therapy trials for advanced PD.
Conclusion
Females with advanced PD are underrepresented in infusion therapy trials.
Supporting Evidence
- Only one study explored differences in outcomes based on sex.
- The proportion of females included was 38%.
- Females represented the majority in only two studies.
- Sex was not a randomization stratification factor in any of the studies.
- Most trials overlooked sex-based biological differences.
Takeaway
This study found that fewer women than men are included in clinical trials for Parkinson's disease treatments, which could affect how well these treatments work for women.
Methodology
A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials on infusion therapies for advanced Parkinson's disease, searching PubMed and EMBASE from 1980 to September 2023.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the exclusion of non-English articles and unpublished studies.
Limitations
The study did not perform a formal risk of bias assessment and only included studies with a sample size of at least 100 patients.
Participant Demographics
The studies included a total of 1637 patients, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 1.49:1.
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% CI: 33%–43%
Statistical Significance
p=0.72
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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