New insights could be gained about health issues that affect Black women if researchers actively sought out more Black women to participate in medical studies.
That’s one of the conclusions being drawn from a new survey being released today by the Mayo Clinic that suggests Black women are willing to participate in medical research, but many are not being asked to.
The survey found that, despite few respondents reporting they had ever been asked to participate in a health-related research study, more than one-third were “extremely willing” to participate in a “biobank” or in genetic studies. Biobanks are repositories that store biological samples for research.
The survey also found that 13 percent of respondents were “extremely willing” to enroll in a clinical trial and that roughly a fourth were “extremely willing” to allow their medical records to be used for research.
“As a Black woman scientist, this is really great,” said Dr. Joyce Balls-Berry, a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist who is set to present the survey results in Toronto at the annual convention of the National Medical Association. “It means we’re willing to take an active part in our health.”
Balls-Berry said a longstanding complaint of researchers is that large numbers of Black women are “hard to reach” for research studies.
“A lot of times we’ll hear that Black women—especially highly-educated Black women—are not willing to participate in studies,” she said.
