Belief in Research, Religious Coping, and Willingness to Participate in Clinical Trials among African Americans with Hematologic Malignancies

Abstract

African Americans (AAs) are disproportionately affected by certain types of hematologic malignancies. Despite the efforts of investigators, AAs with hematologic malignancies remain grossly underrepresented in cancer clinical trials. Few studies have evaluated the underrepresentation of this subgroup of patients in the context of their willingness to participate in clinical trials. Yet, willingness to participate in cancer clinical trials among AAs with solid tumors is well documented. The aims of the present study were to determine if a relationship exists between belief in research and willingness to participate in clinical trials and determine if religious coping moderates the relationship between belief in research and willingness to participate in clinical trials. To address the aims, data on religious coping were captured at one time-point using the validated Brief RCOPE scale and also using researcher-generated questions that addressed beliefs associated with research and willingness to participate in cancer clinical trials. The results reported here show there was no statistical difference between belief in research and willingness to participate in clinical trials, and religious coping did not moderate the effect of belief in research on willingness to participate in clinical trials. Statistically significant differences were found between education and belief in research. Participants with less than a high school education had lower belief in research scores than those with some college education, who showed higher belief in research scores. These findings provide preliminary results that suggest future studies are warranted in the study of AAs' beliefs in research. Such studies may contribute to the development of educational interventions to improve the recruitment of AAs with hematologic malignancies into the therapeutic clinical trials for these diseases, with a particular emphasis on educational interventions for those AAs with less than high school education. The study highlights the need for researchers to develop tailored educational approaches on cancer clinical trials for AAs with less than high school education. Such considerations may improve patients’ decision-making and access to novel therapies that could benefit the individual and others. Furthermore, researchers need to assess religious coping methods and develop tailored religious coping strategies that can be implemented into the clinical setting for AAs with hematologic malignancies. Tailored religious coping strategies could improve patient wellness and minimize the consequences of maladaptive religious coping (Pargament et al., 2011) among AAs with hematologic malignancies. Keywords: African American, hematologic malignancies, cancer clinical trial