Racial Climate on Willingness to Participate in Clinical Research

In the USA, there are striking racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes particularly among African American individuals, compared to White individuals. Despite these disparities, recruiting African American communities for clinical research remains challenging. Using the socio-ecological model as a framework, this project examined whether the racial climate of the geographical area-including police shootings, neighborhood vulnerabilities, and individual trust in research institutions, is significantly associated with willingness to participate in clinical research.

We analyzed data from the University of Florida HealthStreet registry, assessing community perceptions of clinical research participation. Data was aligned with Fatal Encounters police shootings and the Social Vulnerability Index by county and zip code.

Participants had an average age of 43.01 years (SD = 16.32) with an average education of 13.04 years (SD = 2.35). The majority were female (64%) and identified as Black/African American (56.2%). Multiple logistic regression results showed that higher rates of police shootings were significantly associated with lower willingness to participate in studies involving taking medicine (b =  - 0.124, se = 0.055, p < 0.05), providing samples for genetic studies (b =  - 0.001, se = 0.000, p < 0.05), and use of medical equipment (b =  - 0.021, se = 0.001, p < 0.001) among African American adults compared to White participants. Higher social vulnerability was associated with a lower willingness to participate in clinical research.

Socioecological factors' contribution to clinical research participation among African American communities is poorly understood. Our findings highlight the need to address these factors to improve community engagement and reduce the diversity gap in clinical research.