Eligibility, Recruitment, and Retention of African Americans with Severe Mental Illness in Community Research

Abstract

Data that addresses severely mentally ill (SMI) African Americans (AAs) likelihood to participate in clinical research is limited. This study's purpose was to determine if differences exist between races regarding eligibility, recruitment, and retention in a community-based clinical trial. The sample included 293 participants. Data sources included clinical records and interviews. Logistic regression was used for analysis. AAs were as likely to participate and to complete followup interviews as Whites. In contrast to studies about non-mentally ill AAs, AAs with SMI appeared to be as willing to consent to and to remain in clinical research studies as Whites.

Comparison of Outcomes for African Americans, Hispanics, and Non-Hispanic Whites in the CATIE Study

“…Qualitative reasons noted included lack of efficacy, side effects, research burden, nonadherence to medication, research team's loss of contact with patient for further study visits, or patient's withdrawal of consent without further explanation. Earlier discontinuation compared with other racial-ethnic groups is consistent with findings from two serious mental illness trials (20,26), including discontinuing for "other" reasons (20), but is not consistent with another (27).…”

Telephone-Delivered Physical Activity Intervention for Individuals With Serious Mental Illness

“…According to Hampton, White, and Chafetz (2009), recruitment and retention of outpatients with SMI in research has been and continues to be challenging. This was also true for our study.…”

“…In future studies, participants should be informed of all possible phone numbers used by the research team. Alternative contacts, such as family or friends designated by participants, should be considered as a means to keep in touch with and retain participants (Hampton et al, 2009). Prepaid phone or phone cards would be another option for future study.…”

Maximizing Retention with High Risk Participants in a Clinical Trial

“…2 As the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse, the need to represent various racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and other underrepresented groups in healthrelated research is imperative to informing national policies. 3,4 Yet, there is a general lack of research on effective retention strategies with lowincome and ethnically diverse populations, especially those with mental illness.…”