Neuro-oncology clinical trial locations and social vulnerability in the United States.

This article explores the relationship between the locations of neuro-oncology clinical trials in the United States and social vulnerability. The authors used data from ClinicalTrials.gov and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to analyze the trial locations in terms of socioeconomic, household, ethnoracial, and housing/transportation factors. The findings reveal that trial locations in the Midwest and Northwest states have lower socioeconomic and household vulnerability but similar or greater vulnerability in terms of ethnoracial and housing/transportation factors. On the other hand, trial facilities in Southern states, including Texas and Louisiana, are located in counties with greater vulnerability across all SVI themes. The authors suggest that these findings highlight the need for tailored interventions to engage socially vulnerable populations in clinical trials, particularly in areas with higher relative Black/Latino populations. They also emphasize the importance of community engagement and state-level policies to enhance trial inclusivity and generalizability. [Extracted from the article]