40 Background: Despite reporting similar levels of willingness to participate in clinical trials, minority cancer patients remain underrepresented in research interventions. The purpose of this analysis was to examine participant age, race, and ethnicity as predictors of study interest, eligibility, enrollment decision, and attrition in an intervention providing supportive care for women with cancer. Methods: Patients from the UF&Shands Gynecologic Oncology Service (N = 568) were approached for recruitment to either a six-week cognitive-behavioral intervention for insomnia and pain or a psychoeducational control condition. These women were queried about their willingness to participate in the study, interest level, and reasons for declining participation if they did not wish to enroll in the trial. Among enrolled patients (N = 64), predictors of attrition were explored. Results: Of approached patients, 57.2% were older than age 60, 14.7% were non-White, and 3.2% were Hispanic. Chi-square analyses indicated that there were no significant differences in interest level by age [χ2(2,441) = 2.732, p = .255], race [χ2(2,439) = 2.019, p = .364], or ethnicity [χ2(2,431) = 3.242, p = .198]. Eligible minority patients were significantly more likely to enroll than were non-Hispanic Whites [χ2(1,364) = 4.125, p = .042], with Hispanic recruitment driving this difference (p = .011). Survival analyses demonstrated no differences in attrition hazard based on age (B = -.088, p = .825), race (B = .583, p = .275), or ethnicity (B = -19.518, p = .999) among enrolled patients. Conclusions: In our supportive cancer clinical trial (CCT), there were no significant differences in trial interest across racial and ethnic minority groups. In fact, Hispanics were more likely to enroll than non-Hispanics. Furthermore, neither race nor ethnicity was a significant predictor of trial attrition. Future investigation is needed to better understand racial and ethnic disparities in cancer research enrollment, motivators and barriers to participation in supportive cancer care trials, potential inconsistencies in accrual patterns among minority cancer patients, and best practices for enrolling and retaining diverse participants for supportive CCTs. Clinical trial information: NCT02609880.
Acupuncture as a complementary therapy for cancer care: acceptability and preferences of patients and informal caregivers
