Innovation and Inequality: A Randomized Experiment with Physicians

Last registered on February 14, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Innovation and Inequality: A Randomized Experiment with Physicians
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008959
Initial registration date
February 14, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
February 14, 2022, 1:26 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Harvard University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Stanford University
PI Affiliation
Stanford University
PI Affiliation
Stanford University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-03-01
End date
2023-03-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Randomized clinical trials play a critical role in generating knowledge about the safety and efficacy of new pharmaceuticals. However, many clinical trials are not representative of the patient population the resulting pharmaceuticals would serve. In a randomized experiment, we seek to understand how clinical trial diversity affects physician assessments of trial relevance for specific patient sub-groups and willingness to prescribe pharmaceuticals.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Alsan, Marcella et al. 2022. "Innovation and Inequality: A Randomized Experiment with Physicians." AEA RCT Registry. February 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8959-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will present primary care physicians with hypothetical profiles of clinical trials that vary in the demographic diversity of their subjects as well as in drug efficacy. Some of the profiles will be demographically representative of the U.S. population or the physician's patient population, whereas others will be less so.
Intervention Start Date
2022-03-01
Intervention End Date
2022-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Assessment of study relevance for patient population and willingness to prescribe drug studied in trial to patient population
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will invite 10,000 primary care physicians to participate in the survey by randomly sampling physicians from a large database of physician contact information and emailing those selected. Those who start the survey will first be asked questions about their clinical practice, including their qualifications and the demographics of their patient population. They will then view 8-10 profiles of hypothetical drug trials in which the demographic diversity of the clinical trial (such as share Black of participants) and drug efficacy as found by the trial will be cross-randomized. For each profile, participants will rate how relevant the trial's findings are for their patient population as well as how likely they are to prescribe the drug to patients in their care.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done in Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization will be the individual.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
10,000 physicians will be invited to participate, of whom about 250 are expected to complete the survey. This number of participants would lead to approximately 2000-2500 profile-physician observations as each physician will rate 8-10 profiles.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Physicians will see drug trial profiles that will vary in demographic diversity and efficacy along approximately uniform distributions (although low diversity shares such as 0% Black may be over-sampled); hence there are no discrete treatment arms per se.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Harvard University
IRB Approval Date
2022-02-08
IRB Approval Number
IRB22-0017

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials