Participation in a Cervical Cancer Clinical Trial By Women of Mexican Origin in the Texas-Mexico Border

ABSTRACT BODY

Introduction: In 2014, it is estimated that 12,360 new cases of cervical cancer and 4,020 deaths due to cervical cancer will occur. In Texas, Hispanic women have the highest cancer mortality rates, with mortality a rate of 3.4 per 100,000, with a count of 117 preventable deaths in 2010. Low participation in clinical trials by racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants has emerged as a significant research problem for those investigating disparities along the Texas-Mexico border. The present study will examine the percentage of woman participating in a clinical trial that consent to be contacted for participation in future research studies. This study will use a logistic regression analysis to predict a willingness to participate in clinical studies based on the participants’ age, years living in the US, acculturation, and education.
Methods:  Participants in this clinical trial completed a demographics/health history survey, a patient satisfaction survey, an anxiety and distress survey, and provided access to their medical record. The data were used as quantitative measures accompanied by qualitative answers to open ended questions such as: “Why did you choose to voluntarily participate in this study?”   
Results: Of the 237 women who had answered all variables of interest, 194 (81.86%) consented to be re-contacted, and 43 (18.14%) did not want to be re-contacted. The percentage of women interested in participating in future research studies is surprisingly high, indicating the importance of examining the predictors of willingness to participate.  This information can aid in the design and implementation of future clinical studies.  Preliminary logistic regression did not yield significance among these predictors.  Further analyses will be conducted to examine thematic variables from the qualitative responses, and an analysis of closeness of family member with cancer, as predictors of a willingness to participate.
Conclusions: We examined a sample of Mexican women who are residents of the U.S.-Mexico border as they attended the clinic for follow-up care for an abnormal cervical smear. The majority of women were willing to participate in a cancer clinical trial as conducted at the colposcopy of a teaching medical center. We will further study this unique population of Hispanic women, to examine their personal characteristics and life experiences as motivators of adherence to their prescribed program of care, to thus identify factors that motivate their participation in health research studies.