Funding outcome

Despite high blood pressure being one of the most common medical conditions affecting women in the world, Canadian women have decreasing blood pressure awareness, diagnosis and control. Current blood pressure guidelines have largely been based on research conducted in men, highlighting an important opportunity to include female specific factors in blood pressure medication research. Female specific events like menopause, pregnancy, or hormonal contraception use affect blood pressure. However, researchers have previously rarely considered these factors when conducting blood pressure medication studies. Given recent mandates from research funding agencies to include sex and gender considerations in research, we aim to measure how frequently female specific factors are included in current, ongoing trials related to blood pressure medication. To conduct our research, we will search actively recruiting blood pressure medication trials registered on the website ClinicalTrials.gov until August 31, 2025. We will then examine if information regarding female sex-specific factors (including, but not limited to, pregnancy, menopause, breastfeeding and hormonal birth control) have been incorporated into the research and if not, whether this is justified. These data will be statistically analyzed and described to determine if female-specific events are being adequately considered in blood pressure medication research. High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for stroke, heart and kidney disease in women. Appropriate representation of female sex-specific factors across the lifespan in blood pressure medication research is critical to allow for optimal treatment.