Abstract
We conducted a deliberative engagement to assess attitudinal changes regarding biobank research, governance, and the return of results. We recruited African-Americans from two Southside Chicago health care facilities that serve communities of very different socioeconomic and educational backgrounds in order to examine similarities and differences within the African-American population. We used a mixed method, deliberative engagement process involving a convenience sample of parents recruited from a Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC) [n = 23] and a university-based practice (UBP) [n = 22]. Four coding categories illustrate similarities and differences between participants from the two different practices: (1) reasons for and against participation; (2) trust and mistrust; (3) return of research results; and (4) religion. Overall, there was strong interest in receiving results, which was a main motivator for participation. While participants from both health care facilities expressed distrust of research, UBP participants also expressed trust in the research enterprise. FQHC participants more frequently mentioned religion. Studies about participation in biobanks often focus on participants’ race as the sole significant variable, while our work supports the importance of other demographic factors. Medical researchers must move beyond research analyses that consider the African-American population to be monolithic and value the diversity within it.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Anthropological Association Statement on “race.” (May 17, 1998) On the web at: http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm. Last accessed 7 Feb 2012
Beeghley L, Van Velsor E, Bock EW (1981) The correlates of religiosity among Black and White Americans. Sociol Q 22:403–412
Bussey-Jones J, Garrett J, Henderson G, Moloney M, Blumenthal C, Corbie-Smith G (2010) The role of race and trust in tissue/blood donation for genetic research. Genet Med 12:116–121
Condit C (2007) How culture and science make race “genetic”: motives and strategies for discrete categorization of the continuous and heterogeneous. Lit Med 26:240–268
Corbie-Smith G, Thomas SB, Williams MV, Moody-Ayers S (1999) Attitudes and beliefs of African Americans toward participation in medical research. J Gen Int Med 14:537–546
Durant RW, Legedza AT, Marcantonio ER, Freeman MB, Landon BE (2011) Willingness to participate in clinical trials among African Americans and Whites previously exposed to clinical research. J Cult Divers 18:8–19
Fisher CB, Wallace SA (2000) Through the community looking glass: reevaluating the ethical and policy implications of research on adolescent risk and sociopathology. Ethics Behav 10:99–118
Fishkin JS (2009) When the people speak: Deliberative democracy and public consultation. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Fong M, Braun KL, Chang M-L (2006) Native Hawaiian preferences for informed consent and disclosure of results from genetic research. J Cancer Educ 21(Suppl):S47–S52
Giger JN, Appel SJ, Davidhizar R, Davis C (2008) Church and spirituality in the lives of the African American community. J Transcult Nurs 19:375–383
Godard B, Marshall J, Laberge C (2007) Community engagement in genetic research: results of the first public consultation for the Quebec CARTaGENE project. Community Genet 10:147–158
Goldenberg AJ, Hull SC, Wilfond BS, Sharp RR (2011) Patient perspectives on group benefits and harms in genetic research. Public Health Genom 14:135–142
Heiney SP, Adams SA, Wells LM, Johnson H (2010) Evaluation of conceptual framework for recruitment of African American patients with breast cancer. Oncol Nurs Forum 37:E160–E167
Hipps Y, Roberts JS, Farrer LA, Green RC (2003) Differences between African Americans and Whites in their attitudes toward genetic testing for Alzheimer’s disease. Genet Test 7:39–44
James RD, Yu J-H, Henrikson NB, Bowen DJ, Fullerton SM (2008) Strategies and stakeholders: minority recruitment in cancer genetics research. Community Genet 11:241–249
Johnson DC (1997) Formal education vs. religious belief: soliciting new evidence with multinomial logic modeling. J Sci Study Relig 36:231–246
Kaphingst KA, Janoff JM, Harris LN, Emmons KM (2006) Views of female breast cancer patients who donated biologic samples regarding storage and use of samples for genetic research. Clin Genet 69:393–398
Kaufman D, Murphy J, Scott J, Hudson K (2008) Subjects matter: a survey of public opinions about a large genetic cohort study. Genet Med 10:831–839
Kaufman DJ, Murphy-Bollinger J, Scott J, Hudson KL (2009) Public opinion about the importance of privacy in biobank research. Am J Hum Genet 85:643–654
Kettis-Lindblad Å, Ring L, Viberth E, Hansson M (2006) Genetic research and donation of tissue samples to biobanks. What do potential sample donors in the Swedish general public think? Eur J Public Health 16:433–440
Lemke AA, Halverson CME, Ross LF (2012) Biobank participation and returning research results: perspectives from a deliberative engagement in Southside Chicago. Am J Med Genet. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a.34414
Lipworth W, Forsyth R, Kerridge I (2011) Tissue donation to biobanks: a review of sociological studies. Sociol Health Illn 33:792–811
McQuillan GM, Porter KS (2011) Consent for future genetic research: the NHANES experience in 2007-2008. IRB 33:9–14
McQuillan GM, Porter KS, Agelli M, Kington R (2003) Consent for genetic research in a general population: the NHANES experience. Genet Med 5:35–42
McQuillan GM, Pan Q, Porter KS (2006) Consent for genetic research in a general population: an update on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey experience. Genet Med 8:354–360
Murphy J, Scott J, Kaufman D, Geller G, LeRoy L, Hudson K (2008) Public expectations for return of results from large-cohort genetic research. Am J Bioeth 8:36–43
Ormond KE, Cirino AL, Helenowski IB, Chisholm RL, Wolf WA (2009) Assessing the understanding of biobank participants. Am J Med Genet A 149A:188–198
Pulley JM, Brace MM, Bernard GR, Masys DR (2008) Attitudes and perceptions of patients towards methods of establishing a DNA biobank. Cell Tissue Bank 9:55–65
Shalowitz D, Miller F (2008) Communicating the results of clinical research to participants: attitudes, practices, and future directions. PLoS Med 5:0714–0720
Sterling R, Henderson GE, Corbie-Smith G (2006) Public willingness to participate in and public opinions about genetic variation research: a review of the literature. Am J Public Health 96:1971–1978
Streicher SA, Sanderson SC, Jabs EW, Diefenbach M, Smirnoff M, Peter I, Horowitz CR, Brenner B, Richardson LD (2011) Reasons for participating and genetic information needs among racially and ethnically diverse biobank participants: a focus group study. J Community Genet 2:153–163
Trippitelli CL, Jamison KR, Folstein MF, Bartko JJ, DePaulo JR (1998) Pilot study on patients’ and spouses’ attitudes toward potential genetic testing for bipolar disorder. Am J Psychiatry 155:899–904
Watson D, Bisesi L, Tanamly S, Sim T, Branch C, William E (2003) The role of small and medium-sized African American churches in promoting health lifestyle. J Relig Health 42:191–200
Weathers B, Kessler L, Collier A, Stopfer J, Domchek S, Halbert CH (2009) Utilization of religious coping strategies among African American women at increased risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Fam Community Health 32:218–227
Wendler D, Emanuel E (2002) The debate over research on stored biological samples: what do sources think? Arch Int Med 162:1457–1462
Zimmerman RK, Tabbarah M, Nowalk MP, Raymund M, Jewell IK, Wilson SA, Ricci EM (2006) Racial differences in beliefs about genetic screening among patients at inner-city neighborhood health centers. J Natl Med Assoc 98:370–377
Acknowledgments
We thank Amy Lemke for her role in study design, training, and coding; Connie Robinson and Melanie Brown for serving as focus group facilitators; and Ellen Wright Clayton and Elizabeth Heitman for serving as expert consultants. The project was funded by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1RR024999.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Halverson, C.M., Ross, L.F. Engaging African-Americans about biobanks and the return of research results. J Community Genet 3, 275–283 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-012-0091-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-012-0091-3