TY - JOUR T1 - Gender and racial equity in clinical research for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.02969-2021 SP - 2102969 AU - Annie-Claude Jalbert AU - Lyna Siafa AU - Agnihotram V. Ramanakumar AU - Deborah Assayag Y1 - 2022/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2022/01/13/13993003.02969-2021.abstract N2 - Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating interstitial lung disease (ILD) characterised by progressive, irreversible pulmonary parenchymal fibrosis leading to substantial morbidity and shortened survival [1]. Although IPF seems to affect older men predominantly, the true prevalence of IPF in women is difficult to establish, and women may be underdiagnosed while men are overdiagnosed with IPF based on gender alone [2]. Racial and ethnic distribution of IPF has also not been well evaluated in the literature so far, although some studies suggest that non-Whites are diagnosed with IPF at a younger age, and that Blacks are less likely to receive a diagnosis of IPF [3, 4]. Broad and equitable representation and inclusion of patient with diverse race and gender in clinical research is important, especially for a disease such as IPF where the prognosis is poor and the effective interventions are few. Equitable representation in research that matches the true distribution of disease in populations allows for improved external validity of findings, leading to more generalisability of interventions to all patients living with IPF [5].FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: Annie-Claude Jalbert has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Lyna Siafa has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Agnihotram V. Ramanakumar has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Deborah Assayag reports grants and personal fees from Boehringer-Ingelheim Canada and personal fees from Roche Canada, outside of submitted work ER -