Trust and Attitudes Towards Medical Research in African American Women

Background: Compared to other racial groups, African American (AA) women are least likely to participate in medical research despite efforts to increase representation. Numerous barriers to research participation in African Americans have been described including perceived personal risk, distrust of the medical community, time and cost. As a result, AA women and their infants do not share equally in the benefits of medical research thereby exacerbating inequities. To reduce inequities, it is vital to understand trust as a barrier to participation in medical research in AA women.

Objectives: Identify trust as a barrier to medical research participation and explore the role trust plays with regards to medical research participation in AA women of Hamilton County, Ohio.

Design/Methods: The University of Cincinnati Institute for Policy Research surveyed 817 AA women ages 18-65 years residing in Hamilton County, Ohio by telephone between 5/13/22 and 8/10/22. The survey queried perceptions of medical research and participation in medical research. Attitude questions used a 6-point Likert scale. Weighted percentages and Chi-square tests were used to describe attitudes of AA women towards different aspects of medical research across age groups.

Results: The majority (92%) of respondents indicated a “Positive” attitude of medical research (Table 1). Fewer respondents age 18-29 (49%) agreed with the statement “I completely trust doctors who do medical research” vs other age groups: 30-45 (58%), 46-64 (53%), and 65+ (64%) (p=0.0155) (Table 2). Most respondents agreed with the statement “medical research with pregnant women benefits moms and babies” independent of their attitude, “Positive” (78%) or “Negative” (68%), towards medical research (p=0.0003) (Table 3). Younger respondents aged 18-29 (68%) and 30-45 (52%) were more likely to agree with the statement “I prefer medical research led by black researchers” vs older respondents 46-64 (41%) and 65+ (38%) (p < 0.0001) (Table 4).

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that despite an understanding of the necessity and importance of medical research, participation rates remain low. Additionally, rates of trust vary significantly across age groups and distrust may be mitigated with race concordant medical researchers. These findings highlight the critical role of trust in medical research, especially in vulnerable populations. Ongoing qualitative work aims to gain a deeper understanding of AA participation in medical research, as well as associated barriers and facilitators.