A systematic review of income and education reporting in psychedelic clinical trials
Nature Mental Health May 1, 2025 Daniel H. Grossman, Kevin R. Madden, Nicky J. Mehtani et al. 10 citations
Socioeconomic status (SES) strongly affects mental health outcomes and treatment access, but its reporting in psychedelic-assisted therapy trials is inadequate. A systematic review of 98 articles (49 primary trials and 49 secondary analyses) from 2006 to 2024 found that only 12% of primary trials reported participant income data, and 31% reported educational attainment. In US-based trials, participants had markedly higher SES than the general population: 93% had some college education (versus 62% nationally), and median incomes in major trials substantially exceeded the national median for all workers. Non-US trials showed variable patterns. This underreporting and evidence of socioeconomic disparities highlights an urgent need for standardized SES reporting and strategies to improve socioeconomic diversity in psychedelic-assisted therapy research.