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. 2022 Feb 1;5(2):e220444.
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.0444.

Geographical Representation of Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Randomized Clinical Trials for COVID-19

Mahesh Ramanan  1 , Steven Y C Tong  2 , Aashish Kumar  3 , Balasubramanian Venkatesh  1
Affiliations

Geographical Representation of Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Randomized Clinical Trials for COVID-19

Mahesh Ramanan et al. JAMA Netw Open. .

Abstract

This systematic review examines geographical representation of low- and middle-income countries in randomized clinical trials for COVID-19 compared with high-income countries.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Tong reported receiving grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Fellowship during the conduct of the study. Dr Venkatesh reported receiving institutional research support from Baxter Health Care outside the submitted work; and an Investigator Fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Ratio of Participant Recruitment to COVID-19 Cases by Country and Income Status in Relation to Total COVID-19 Cases
Bubbleplot showing participant recruitment to COVID-19 cases ratio stratified by income status and COVID-19 burden. Each bubble represents one country, with countries color-coded by income status. The size of each bubble is proportional to the ratio of participant recruitment to COVID-19 cases in that country. A larger bubble therefore means that that country has recruited a larger number of participants into trials relative to the total number of COVID-19 cases in that country. Overall, there were 80 high-income countries, 56 upper-middle-income countries, 55 lower-middle countries, and 27 low-income countries, of which 23 high-income, 8 upper-middle-income, 3 lower-middle-income, and 0 low-income countries recruited patients. The remaining countries with no participants recruited in COVID-19 trials are represented as small black circles.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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