Racial differences in willingness to participate in HIV prevention clinical trials amongst university students in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
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Date
2013
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Abstract
Introduction
Willingness to participate in clinical trials is a crucial element in recruitment of
suitable participants for intervention trials. Measurement of willingness to
participate assists in determining community preparedness for clinical trials,
such as HIV vaccine trials. Therefore, researchers have developed a Clinical
Research Involvement Scale (CRIS) to assess willingness to participate
modelled on the Theory of Reasoned Action. The CRIS was tested in the USA
and was noted that it would benefit from additional testing in other populations.
Aim
The purpose of this study is to determine whether racial differences exist in
willingness to participate and explore potential factors associated with
willingness to participate in HIV prevention research.
Methods
A cross sectional analytic study was conducted. The CRIS was administered to
university students aged 18-45 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South
Africa. The CRIS was administered online with a demographic questionnaire to
facilitate evaluation of possible associations between willingness to participate
and age, gender, relationship status, parity, religion, education status, student
status, employment status and access to private health care. Participation was
once-off at the time of completing the scale.
Results
The study enrolled 636 participants, two thirds being female. An effective
sample size of 509 was considered for analysis after data was cleaned for
accuracy and completeness. The results indicated that all students across all
race groups were willing to participate in HIV prevention research. However,
when considering factors that affected willingness to participate, statistically
significant differences were noted. Based on the differences amongst these
factors, Black students expressed greater intention to participate compared to
White and Indian students. The CRIS was deemed a reliable instrument in this
population; however in its current structure it did not show strong validity.
Validity improved if the factors of motivation to comply and outcome evaluations
were removed in this population.
Discussion
The study findings are specific to students of the University of KwaZulu-Natal
and cannot be generalized to other populations. The racial differences in factors
that affect willingness to participate indicate differences in risk perception and
seeking access to better quality healthcare.
Recommendations
The CRIS should be used in other student populations to assess its validity.
(350 words)
Description
Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.
Keywords
HIV infections--KwaZulu-Natal--Prevention., Clinical trials--KwaZulu-Natal., Human experimentation in medicine--KwaZulu-Natal., Students--KwaZulu-Natal--Conduct of life., Epidemiology--KwaZulu-Natal., Biometry--KwaZulu-Natal., Theses--Public health