Community perception and beliefs about blood draw for clinical research in Ghana

Background Clinical research participants often express concerns about blood draw because of misconceptions about the uses to which the blood will be put. Their comments can generate rumours in their communities, thereby affecting rates of recruitment to research studies and increasing losses to fol...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2013-04, Vol.107 (4), p.261-265
Main Authors: Boahen, Owusu, Owusu-Agyei, Seth, Febir, Lawrence Gyabaa, Tawiah, Charlotte, Tawiah, Theresa, Afari, Samuel, Newton, Samuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Attitude to Health
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical Research
Blood Specimen Collection - psychology
Community-Based Participatory Research
Culture
Female
Focus Groups
General aspects
Ghana
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background Clinical research participants often express concerns about blood draw because of misconceptions about the uses to which the blood will be put. Their comments can generate rumours in their communities, thereby affecting rates of recruitment to research studies and increasing losses to follow-up. This study sought to identify community perceptions about blood draw for clinical research. Methods Between September 2010 and March 2011, 12 focus group discussions and eight in-depth interviews were conducted among community members in the Kintampo district of Ghana, to determine what cultural beliefs and traditional practices might affect attitudes to blood draw. Results Most of the study participants did not mention any cultural beliefs prohibiting blood draw but were of the opinion that collecting blood from children and pregnant women could lead to serious health consequences. They could not understand why blood would be taken from participants who were not sick. Some were of the opinion that blood samples could be used for rituals and others recounted unpleasant experiences following blood draws. Conclusion To facilitate clinical research that entails blood draw, it is important to address concerns and rumours through intensive community sensitisation.
ISSN:0035-9203
1878-3503
DOI:10.1093/trstmh/trt012