Research Participation Among Asian American Women at Risk for Cervical Cancer: Exploratory Pilot of Barriers and Enhancers

The purposes of this exploratory pilot were to describe perceived barriers to participation in cervical cancer prevention research, and identify culturally-appropriate communication strategies to recruit Asian women into cancer prevention research. This thematic analysis of transcripts, from focus groups and in-depth interviews, was conducted in English, Vietnamese, and Mandarin Chinese, at a community clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thirty participants were either Vietnamese (35%) or Chinese (65%). Mean age was 36.8 (SD 9.9 years). Reasons for non-participation were: lack of time, inconvenience, mistrust of institutions and negative experiences, lack of translated materials, feeling intimidated by English, and the lack of translation of key words or terms. Enhancers of participation were: endorsement by a spouse, monetary compensation, and a personalized approach that offers a benefit for Asian women. To increase participation, first one must remove language barriers and, preferably, use specific dialects. Second, one must specify if benefits are indirectly or directly related to the family or cultural group. Asian research participants in our study consistently expressed that a significant motivator was their desire to be of help, in some way, to a family member or to the Asian community in general.