“The thing we were surprised about was that African-Americans were two times or 200 percent more likely to perceive a chance of harm from participating in medical research,” Powe said. “That perception of harm accounted for why they were less willing to participate in a trial.”
Powe said the study provided several possible remedies, including an increase in the number of minority physicians involved in clinical research studies. Some 12 percent of the U.S. population is Black, but only 4 percent are physicians.
He said health care providers need to do a better job at building trust with patients.
“We need to take time to communicate and explain what the risk and benefits are to participating in research and dispel myths that unrealistic harms could result,” he said.
Dr. Mona Fouad, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Minority Health and Research Center, said a number of reasons have been reported for low participation by Blacks in clinical research. These include economic barriers, time off to participate, negative experiences in the medical system and the complexity of required procedures such as consent forms.
She said the latest Johns Hopkins study is important in underlining the need to reach out and develop culturally competent recruitment strategies.
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