Participation in biomedical research studies and cancer screenings: perceptions of risks to minorities compared with whites

Abstract

Background: This analysis was conducted to determine whether there is a difference among blacks, Hispanics, and whites in their perception of risks associated with participating in either a biomedical study or a cancer screening.

Methods: The Tuskegee Legacy Project Questionnaire, which focused on research subject participation, was administered in two different surveys (1999-2000 and 2003) in seven cities. The Cancer Screening Questionnaire was administered in 2003 in three cities.

Results: The study sample across the three surveys consisted of 1,064 blacks, 781 Hispanics, and 1,598 non-Hispanic whites. Response rates ranged from 44% to 70% by city. Logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, education, income, and city, revealed that blacks and Hispanics each self-reported that minorities, compared with whites, are more likely to be "taken advantage of" in biomedical studies and much less likely to get a "thorough and careful examination" in a cancer screening (odds ratios ranged from 3.6 to 14.2).

Conclusions: Blacks and Hispanics perceive equally high levels of risk for participating in cancer screening examinations and for volunteering to become research subjects in biomedical studies. This perception provides a strong message about the need to overtly address this critical health disparities issue.

Fig 1

“Always” and “most of the time” responses to question whether blacks in the United States are more likely to be “taken advantage of” in research studies or “less likely to get a thorough examination” in a cancer screening, compared with whites, based on unadjusted data from three separate studies.

Fig 2

“Always” and “most of the time” responses to question whether Hispanics in the United States are more likely to be “taken advantage of” in research studies or “less likely to get a thorough examination” in a cancer screening, compared with whites, based on unadjusted data from three separate studies.

Fig 3

Statistically significant odds ratios (ORs) for two-way racial/ethnic contrasts for the perceived risks when participating in biomedical research studies and cancer screenings in three separate studies, adjusted for age, sex, education, income, and city.