Is Religiosity Related to Attitudes Toward Clinical Trials Participation?

• Published in: Journal of cancer education 2015-06, Vol.30 (2), p.220-224
• Main Authors: Daverio-Zanetti, Svetlana, Schultz, Kathryn, del Campo, Miguel A. Martin, Malcarne, Vanessa, Riley, Natasha, Sadler, Georgia Robins
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Attitude to Health; Attitudes; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer; Cancer Research; Clinical trials; Clinical Trials as Topic - psychology; Clinical Trials as Topic - statistics & numerical data; Community Relations; Deafness; Disproportionate Representation; Female; Females; Follow-Up Studies; Grade 8; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic Americans - psychology; Humans; Middle Aged; Minority Groups; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology; Patient Participation - psychology; Patient Selection; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Prognosis; Psychometrics; Recruitment; Religion; Research Assistants; Spanish; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0885-8195; 1543-0154
• DOI: 10.1007/s13187-014-0696-9

Research indicates that a low percentage of cancer patients enroll in cancer clinical trials. This is especially true among minority groups such as Hispanic Americans. Considering the importance of religion in the Hispanic American community, it is important to understand its relationship to perceptions of clinical trials. Five hundred and three Latina women completed the Barriers to Clinical Trials Participation Scale and the Duke University Religion Index. For the total sample, higher organizational and intrinsic religiosity was significantly associated with a perceived lack of community support for clinical trials participation. In subgroup analysis, the relationship between organizational religiosity and lack of support was stronger among Latinas who were Spanish language preferred and Latinas who were Catholic. Intrinsic religiosity was associated with mistrust among Spanish language-preferred Latinas, and both organizational and intrinsic religiosities were associated with a lack of familiarity with clinical trials among Christian (non-Catholic) Latinas. These results indicate that religious institutions that serve Latinas may be an effective venue for disseminating clinical trial education programs to improve attitudes toward clinical trials participation.