Underrepresentation of Hispanics and Other Minorities in Clinical Trials: Recruiters' Perspectives

Overview

Journal J Racial Ethn Health Disparities

Specialties Public Health
Social Sciences

Date 2017 Apr 29

PMID 28452008

Citations 34

Authors

Aurora Occa

Susan E Morgan

JoNell E Potter

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Clinical trials and research studies often fail to recruit participants from the minorities, hampering the generalizability of results. In order to mitigate this problem, the present study investigated how race/ethnicity affects the process of recruiting people from racial and ethnic minority groups, by conducting 11 focus groups with professional recruiters. Several themes emerged, such as how to adapt to potential participants' language competency and literacy levels, the importance to engage in culturally appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication, and to establish a sense of homophily between recruiters and patients. In addition, recruiters pointed out possible solutions to accommodate socioeconomic concerns, to adapt to contextual factors-including immigration status-and ultimately to respond to potential participants' mistrust of medical research. These findings are discussed, and future recommendations are provided.

Citing Articles

Promoting inclusion in COVID-19 research for diverse Hispanic/Latino(x) populations: Recommendations from the RADx® Underserved Populations Hispanic/Latino/Latinx working group.

Gonzalez-Guarda R, Acosta-Perez E, Adames C, Bailey R, Carvajal-Carmona L, Detwiler J J Clin Transl Sci. 2025; 9(1):e31.

PMID: 40052057 PMC: 11883567. DOI: 10.1017/cts.2024.600.

Representation of ethnic and racial minority groups in European vaccine trials: a quantitative analysis of clinical trials registries.

Puttick N, Vanderslott S, Tanner R BMJ Public Health. 2025; 1(1):e000042.

PMID: 40017879 PMC: 11812692. DOI: 10.1136/bmjph-2023-000042.

Enablers and barriers of clinical trial participation in adult patients from minority ethnic groups: a systematic review.

Alarcon Garavito G, Gilchrist K, Ciurtin C, Khanna S, Chambers P, McNally N Trials. 2025; 26(1):65.

PMID: 39984940 PMC: 11846389. DOI: 10.1186/s13063-025-08769-y.

The diabetes cardiovascular outcomes trials and racial and ethnic minority enrollment: impact, barriers, and potential solutions.

Sinclair M, Ardehali M, Diamantidis C, Corsino L Front Public Health. 2024; 12:1412874.

PMID: 39525461 PMC: 11545964. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1412874.

Leveraging Social Determinants of Health to Enhance Recruitment of Underrepresented Populations in Clinical Trials.

King S, Trabanino S, Azizi Z, Rodriguez F Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2024; 20(5):81-88.

PMID: 39525382 PMC: 11546174. DOI: 10.14797/mdcvj.1447.

References

Downing N, Shah N, Neiman J, Aminawung J, Krumholz H, Ross J . Participation of the elderly, women, and minorities in pivotal trials supporting 2011-2013 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals. Trials. 2016; 17:199. PMC: 4832528. DOI: 10.1186/s13063-016-1322-4. View

Penner L, Dovidio J, West T, Gaertner S, Albrecht T, Dailey R . Aversive Racism and Medical Interactions with Black Patients: A Field Study. J Exp Soc Psychol. 2010; 46(2):436-440. PMC: 2835170. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2009.11.004. View

Chen Jr M, Lara P, Dang J, Paterniti D, Kelly K . Twenty years post-NIH Revitalization Act: enhancing minority participation in clinical trials (EMPaCT): laying the groundwork for improving minority clinical trial accrual: renewing the case for enhancing minority participation in cancer clinical.... Cancer. 2014; 120 Suppl 7:1091-6. PMC: 3980490. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.28575. View

Burchard E, Oh S, Foreman M, Celedon J . Moving toward true inclusion of racial/ethnic minorities in federally funded studies. A key step for achieving respiratory health equality in the United States. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015; 191(5):514-21. PMC: 4384771. DOI: 10.1164/rccm.201410-1944PP. View

Pariera K, Murphy S, Meng J, McLaughlin M . Exploring Willingness to Participate in Clinical Trials by Ethnicity. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2016; 4(4):763-769. DOI: 10.1007/s40615-016-0280-6. View

Friedman D, Bergeron C, Foster C, Tanner A, Kim S . What do people really know and think about clinical trials? A comparison of rural and urban communities in the South. J Community Health. 2013; 38(4):642-51. DOI: 10.1007/s10900-013-9659-z. View

Centola D . An experimental study of homophily in the adoption of health behavior. Science. 2011; 334(6060):1269-72. DOI: 10.1126/science.1207055. View

Groth S . Honorarium or coercion: use of incentives for participants in clinical research. J N Y State Nurses Assoc. 2010; 41(1):11-3. PMC: 3646546. View

Cottler L, McCloskey D, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Bennett N, Strelnick H, Dwyer-White M . Community needs, concerns, and perceptions about health research: findings from the clinical and translational science award sentinel network. Am J Public Health. 2013; 103(9):1685-92. PMC: 3966684. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300941. View

10.

Strumpf E . Racial/ethnic disparities in primary care: the role of physician-patient concordance. Med Care. 2011; 49(5):496-503. DOI: 10.1097/MLR.0b013e31820fbee4. View

11.

Leiter A, Diefenbach M, Doucette J, Oh W, Galsky M . Clinical trial awareness: Changes over time and sociodemographic disparities. Clin Trials. 2015; 12(3):215-23. PMC: 4667750. DOI: 10.1177/1740774515571917. View

12.

Luebbert R, Perez A . Barriers to Clinical Research Participation Among African Americans. J Transcult Nurs. 2015; 27(5):456-63. DOI: 10.1177/1043659615575578. View

13.

George S, Duran N, Norris K . A systematic review of barriers and facilitators to minority research participation among African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Am J Public Health. 2013; 104(2):e16-31. PMC: 3935672. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301706. View

14.

Carrasquillo O, McCann S, Amofah A, Pierre L, Rodriguez B, Alonzo Y . Rationale and design of the research project of the South Florida Center for the Reduction of Cancer Health Disparities (SUCCESS): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2014; 15:299. PMC: 4127186. DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-15-299. View

15.

Badger T, Segrin C, Swiatkowski P, McNelis M, Weihs K, Lopez A . Why Latinas With Breast Cancer Select Specific Informal Caregivers to Participate With Them in Psychosocial Interventions. J Transcult Nurs. 2016; 28(4):391-397. DOI: 10.1177/1043659616656391. View

16.

Freimuth V, Quinn S, Thomas S, Cole G, Zook E, Duncan T . African Americans' views on research and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Soc Sci Med. 2001; 52(5):797-808. DOI: 10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00178-7. View

17.

Newington L, Metcalfe A . Factors influencing recruitment to research: qualitative study of the experiences and perceptions of research teams. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2014; 14:10. PMC: 3903025. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2288-14-10. View

18.

Durant R, Legedza A, Marcantonio E, Freeman M, Landon B . Different types of distrust in clinical research among whites and African Americans. J Natl Med Assoc. 2011; 103(2):123-30. PMC: 3241476. DOI: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30261-3. View

19.

Haddad R, Chan A, Vermorken J . Barriers to clinical trial recruitment in head and neck cancer. Oral Oncol. 2015; 51(3):203-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2014.12.007. View

20.

Albrecht T, Eggly S, Gleason M, Harper F, Foster T, Peterson A . Influence of clinical communication on patients' decision making on participation in clinical trials. J Clin Oncol. 2008; 26(16):2666-73. PMC: 3807688. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2007.14.8114. View