• Diversity

    African-American Women’s Perception of Medical Research

Many African-American women are willing to participate in medical research, but few are being asked. That’s one conclusion of a survey by Mayo Clinic and The Links, Incorporated being presented at the National Medical Association conference in Toronto.

The findings are from results of a self-administered survey of 381 members of The Links, Incorporated, a national African-American women’s service organization, during their 2012 National Assembly. The study was conducted to determine the experience-based knowledge, beliefs and practices about involvement in research studies by African-American women.

Mayo Clinic epidemiologist presenting the study, Joyce Balls-Berry, Ph.D., says, “Overall, we’re pleased to see a high level of knowledge about medical research, as well as willingness to participate in a variety of research studies like biobank and genetic studies. However, our findings indicate that we still need to improve understanding of research risks, assure participants of the ethical conduct of research and increase specific levels of participation.”

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Journalists: Office b-roll and sound bites with Dr. Balls-Berry are availabe in the downloads

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