TOP 43 - Trust and Attitudes Towards Medical Research in African American Women, A Mixed Methods Study

Publication Number: 4746.TOP 43

Zegilor B. Laney, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Emily Miller, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; James M. Greenberg, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, CINCINNATI, OH, United States; Shelley Ehrlich, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Chunyan Liu, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Barbara Giambra, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States; Danielle Pierre Hixon, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States

Background: Compared to other racial groups, African American women are least likely to participate in medical research, despite efforts to increase representation. Prior research has described numerous barriers to research participation among African Americans, including perceived personal risk, distrust of the medical community, lack of awareness, time and associated cost. As a result, African American women and their infants do not share equally in the benefits of medical research, thereby exacerbating inequities in maternal and infant health outcomes. To reduce these inequities, it is vital to understand trust as a barrier to participation in medical research among African American women.

Objective: Identify and explore the role of trust as a barrier to medical research participation among African American women of Hamilton County, Ohio.

Design/Methods: The Cincinnati Children’s Institutional Review Board deemed the study exempt (IRB 2024-0816). This is a mixed-methods study utilizing surveys and interviews. We surveyed 817 African American women ages 18-65 years residing in Hamilton County, Ohio via telephone between 5/13/22 and 8/10/22. The survey queried perceptions of, and participation in, medical research using a 6-point Likert scale. We used weighted percentages and Chi-square tests to describe attitudes of African American women towards different aspects of medical research across age groups.
Utilizing themes from the telephone survey results, we then conducted four 60-minute focus group interviews with 24 African American women of Hamilton County to further assess the role of trust as a barrier to medical research participation and explore other associated barriers and facilitators. Recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, deidentified, and are currently being coded in preparation for thematic analysis with anticipated completion by January 31, 2026.