© 2006 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.069286
Rene Sterling is a doctoral candidate at the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a pre-doctoral fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Gail E. Henderson and Giselle Corbie-Smith are with the Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Giselle Corbie-Smith is also with the Program on Health Disparities, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr. Giselle Corbie-Smith, Associate Professor, Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wing D Medical School, CB 7240, Chapel Hill, NC 275997240 (e-mail: gcorbie{at}med.unc.edu).
Scientists are turning to genetic variation research in hopes of addressing persistent racial/ethnic disparities in health. Despite ongoing controversy, the advancement of genetic variation research is likely to produce new knowledge and technologies that will substantially change the ways in which we understand and value health. They also may affect the ways in which individuals and groups organize socially, politically, and economically. Addressing concerns that may exist in different communities is vital to the scientific and ethical advancement of genetic variation research. We review empirical studies of public willingness to participate in and opinions about genetic research with particular attention to differences in consent and opinion by racial/ethnic group membership.
POLICYMAKERS HAVE described the integration of new genetic knowledge and technologies into the practice of public health and medicine as unavoidable.1 Newborn screening programs, prenatal testing, and genealogy documentation provide long-standing precedent for this integration. Scientists now are turning to research that seeks to understand genetic differences by racial/ethnic group membership (referred to as genetic variation research), in hopes of addressing persistent racial/ethnic disparities in health. Researchers have criticized the lack of definitional clarity and inconsistent use of racial/ethnic group membership in US health research,2 while at the same time depending on these categories to define and explain disparities in health and health care.3 These categories generally include 1 or more of the categories used by the federal government, namely an ethnic group categoryHispanic/Latinoand several racial group categoriesWhite American/White, African American/Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Nativein addition to Other and more recently Mixed Race. The proposed use of racial/ethnic group membership in genetic variation research has been widely debated. Advocates argue that significant genetic differences do exist by racial/ethnic group membership and that such information is critical to ensuring representative sampling.4,5 Advocates also propose that genetic variation research may lead to health benefits, such as improved understanding of disease susceptibility and targeted pharmacogenomic innovations.6,7 Critics raise methodological concerns about the validity of racial/ethnic group membership for studying genetic variation.810 Furthermore, critics assert that such research may encourage genetic determinism and scientific racism, divert attention from the powerful social and environmental determinants of health, and reinforce stereotypes about minority groups.1012 Despite ongoing controversy, the trajectories of genetic variation research are likely to produce new knowledge and technologies that will substantially change the ways in which we understand and value health. They also may affect the ways in which individuals and groups are organized socially, politically, and economically in society.13 Given this potential, strong arguments have been made in the literature for public consultation regarding the advancement of genetic science.1315 Consultation with racial/ethnic minority groups is particularly important given these groups past experience with the misuse of science. Addressing concerns that may exist in different communities is fundamental to the ethical advancement of genetic variation research and may facilitate the recruitment of diverse samples that are vital to answering the underlying scientific questions posed by genetic variation research. What is known about the willingness of the public to participate in genetic variation research? Does willingness to participate in genetic variation research vary by racial/ethnic group membership? What concerns and other opinions do people have about genetic variation research? We present findings from a systematic review of empirical studies regarding US public willingness to participate in and opinions about genetic variation research and other genetic research and offer suggestions for future studies.
We conducted preliminary searches for empirical studies of public willingness to participate in and opinions about genetic variation research in the National Library of Medicine Medline database and all databases under the Institute of Scientific Information Web of Science. Given limited results, we established broader parameters for a larger search using general search terms and including studies involving genetic research regardless of an explicit focus on variation by racial/ethnic group (Table 1
We conducted systematic searches of the Medline and Institute of Scientific Information Web of Science databases during July and August 2005 using the parameters specified in Table 1 Reference lists from the 13 relevant papers were reviewed for additional papers that may not have been captured by the database searches. Twenty-eight papers were identified in reference lists as potentially relevant, 1 of which was determined to be relevant after abstract or full-text review.17 Among the 14 relevant studies, 1 did involve genetic testing18 and was included because participants were informed that they would not receive test results and also were asked for consent to store DNA2 features more typical of research involving genetic specimen donation. Finally, 1 relevant article identified in the preliminary search did not appear in the systematic search and therefore was not included in this review.19 This article did not use the terms race, ethnicity, or any variation (excluding 1 appearance of race in a table), nor did it have these terms assigned as keywords.
Findings from the reviewed studies are presented in 3 tables: Table 2
Our literature search produced 14 empirical studies on willingness to participate in and opinions about genetic research. Only 1 of these 14 studies made clear references to genetic variation research exploring relations among race, genes, and health.29 The purpose of most studies (10 studies) was to measure consent rates in response to requests for participation in genetic research (Tables 2
Sample Characteristics
Data Analysis The extent of variation in study design makes it difficult to draw strong conclusions across identified studies. Instead, we offer the following observations.
Willingness to Participate in Genetic Research Overall consent rates varied substantially in the 8 studies that included actual requests for participation, 5 of which had overall consent rates below 40%.18,20,22,23,27 Responder consent rates were substantially higher than overall consent rates, largely because of reduced denominators.18,2123,26,27 The highest responder consent rates had majority White American responders.2123,26 Reported eligible responder consent rates21,23,27 were relatively high ( > 75%). One of these high consent rates resulted from an African American sample.27 Study samples that included people with previous participation in health or genetic research reported overall consent rates ranging from 21% to 85%.17,18,20,22 Studies in which potential participants were provided with specific information about the use of their DNA also had variable consent rates.18,22,23,26,27 Lastly, studies that included people with a personal/familial history of a genetic condition reported lower overall consent rates, ranging from 28% to 53%,20,22,25 the highest resulting from a hypothetical request.25
Variation of Willingness by Racial/Ethnic Group Consent among subjects who had previously participated in health or genetic research varied by racial/ethnic group. Moorman et al.22 found the lowest levels of consent among former research participants. In their study, only 37% of African Americans indicated willingness to enroll in a cancer genetics registry, compared with 58% of White Americans. In addition, exclusive or substantial (41%) African American samples that included people with personal or familial histories of a genetic condition also reported low levels of overall consent (< 37%).20,22 By contrast, Wang et al.25 found that those with a family history of a genetic condition in a largely White American sample reported significantly higher levels of consent. Finally, the highest responder consent rates ( > 85%) resulted from 2 studies with largely White American samples. The first of these 2 studies sampled within a population of older primary care patients18 and the second involved in-home requests for consent.21
Concerns and Opinions About Genetic Research
More specific to genetic research were several concerns including the potential for those at risk of genetic conditions to be stigmatized and ostracized,29 the initiation of premature treatment,29 changes in familial expectations or interest in "designer babies,"28 and religious objections.28 In the only study that prompted discussion about research on relations among race, genes, and health, Fisher and Wallace29 reported participant skepticism regarding researchers abilities to separate genetic, environmental, and racial/ethnic group contributions to health, particularly in cases of mixed heritage. Identified facilitators to participation in genetic research were often reflections of reported concerns (e.g., taking more active control over the use of research by third parties29). Finally, although 5 of the 7 studies in Tables 3
We searched for answers to several questions regarding public willingness to participate in and opinions about genetic variation research. We expected to find many more studies given the substantial controversy surrounding its advancement. Only 1 study in our review provided insights into the specific concerns people may have regarding participation in genetic variation research exploring relations among race, genes, and health. Although there were some patterns by racial/ethnic group membership regarding consent, there were few systematic data across studies that would allow us to draw strong conclusions about the relative willingness of different groups to participate in genetic research.
Recommendations for Future Studies First, it is important to establish clear distinctions in the literature among research studies involving requests for genetic testing, genetic specimen donation, or genetic specimen storage. As discussed previously, the risks and benefits associated with these different requests can vary. Using "genetic research" in reference to all 3 can obscure important distinctions. Using a standard nomenclature when referencing these different requests and corresponding study designs will help ensure that findings regarding consent and public opinion are placed in their appropriate context. Second, to facilitate cross-study comparisons, future studies must include information needed to calculate overall, responder, and eligible responder consent rates, where applicable. Providing this information by racial/ethnic group membership, other sociodemographic variables, and other characteristics unique to the study (e.g., health, attitudinal/behavior indicators) will facilitate more accurate assessment of consent across studies. Information on the reasons for nonresponse is essential to interpret responder consent rates as well. Third, researchers conducting qualitative studies should use appropriate probing techniques to identify both the benefits and the concerns participants associate with genetic research. Consent studies should include a qualitative component whereby recruited subjects are asked their reasons for consenting to or declining specific requests. Researchers should build on qualitative findings to measure the extent to which specific or thematic opinions are prevalent in larger diverse samples. When possible, authors should report findings by racial/ethnic group membership. Fourth, we strongly recommend that future studies explicitly ask potential participants about their willingness to participate in and their opinions regarding genetic variation research, highlighting the exploration of relations among racial/ethnic group membership, genes, and health. Our literature review found only 1 such study. Researchers should make every effort to include Asian Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, and other groups currently underrepresented. Finally, to enhance our understanding of how the lay public may perceive genetic variation research, we encourage investigation into parallel areas of research (some of which already appear in the literature11,35,36), including lay public understandings of race, ethnicity, genes, and health and the relations among them; the extent to which people hold views consistent with genetic determinism; and opinions about pharmacogenomics, gene therapy, and other innovations that may arise from genetic research.
Conclusions We must open the dialogue occurring within the scientific community about the use of racial/ethic group membership in genetic variation research to members of the general public who may serve as future study participants. As demonstrated by Fisher and Wallace29 and others conducting parallel areas of research, the public can engage in meaningful dialogue about these issues and should be provided with more opportunities to do so.
During production of this article, 4 new studies satisfying the inclusion criteria for this review came to the authors attention via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Genomics and Health Weekly Update (http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/update/current.htm).3740 Of note, Buchwald et al.37 reported consent rates for participation in a hypothetical genetic study among 420 urban American Indian/Alaska Native patients and staff at an Indian health care facility. Associations between consent and different study characteristics (i.e., subject matter, risks and benefits, institutional sponsor, community involvement) also were reported.
This research was supported in part by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (National Research Service Award Pre-Doctoral Traineeship grant T32-HS000032), the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health (grants R01-HG002830 and P20-HG003387), and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (grant P60-MD000244). The authors thank several anonymous reviewers for this journal who provided detailed and thoughtful comments to the article.
Peer Reviewed
Contributors Accepted for publication September 29, 2005.
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