Attitudes of African Americans Toward Participation in Medical Research

Abstract

The underrepresentation of African Americans in medical research is problematic for several reasons, including disparities in health outcomes, differences in metabolism of pharmacological agents, and accurate assessment of health needs and costs. This paper investigates factors contributing to African Americans' lower likelihood of consenting to participation in medical research. In Study 1, three focus groups were conducted to assess concerns about research participation and to generate further hypotheses for questionnaire development. Study 2 presented a hypothetical clinical trial and collected questionnaire data on attitudes about participation. Both studies revealed a greater likelihood to mistrust the medical establishment among African American students. However, suspicion did not contribute to a decreased likelihood of participation. Several recommendations are offered regarding the recruitment of African Americans in research.

Utilization of Health Care Services and Willingness to Participate in Future Medical Research: The Role of Race and Social Support

“…Previous studies have noted that blacks were less likely to participate in clinical research. 5,6,21,29 With blacks also being at a higher risk for disease conditions and discrimination due to outside factors such as socioeconomic status, 30-32 understanding the link among health care service utilization, future participation in medical research, and race is of critical importance.…”

“…5-9 Medical mistrust is an important concept to understand, especially as it relates to health care services and medical research. Historical occurrences of abuse in medical research, as well as personal experiences of discrimination within medical care and society, have been well documented, and have been highlighted as potential sources of medical mistrust.…”

African American Participation in Alzheimer’s Disease Research That Includes Brain Donation

“…Likewise, discussion of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study revealed concerns by the black community that researchers would take advantage of them to obtain meaningful results for scientific publications. 1,3 Research by Mason 4 , Stahl and Vasquez 5 , and Moreno-John, Gachie, Fleming, et al 8 suggests similar findings. In a review of these studies, African Americans consistently reported a lack of trust in research and research personnel.…”

“…2 This lack of participation has been attributed to a variety of factors that include a mistrust of the predominately white research establishment with its well-documented history of medical abuse, differing cultural attitudes and beliefs towards research and illness, isolation of older individuals, and a lack of education about the purpose of research in general and the informed consent process in particular. 1, 3–5 …”

A Prenatal Coparenting Intervention With Unmarried Father–Mother Dyads: Fidelity of Intervention Delivery by Male–Female Community Mentor Teams

“…Men recruited for the study were skeptical of couples interventions, as has been noted (Doss, Atkins, & Christensen, 2003), and involving mentors who believed in and were committed to the inclusion of fathers in the prenatal intervention was essential. So too was the cultural competence of mentors, who understood the challenges faced in the community by African American children and parents and who could connect with parents in these realities (Armstrong, Crum, Rieger, Bennett, & Edwards, 1999). Future research would benefit from further examination of mentor background and competencies.…”