Paper
Thursday, 20 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Initiatives for Adult Women's Health Issues
Recruitment of African American Women in Hypertension Genetic Studies
Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD, PNP, RN and Kavya Vaidyanathan. School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Learning Objective #1: identify alternative methods of recruitment of African Americans into research studies
Learning Objective #2: identify which method of recruitment would be best given their interest in African American samples
Background: Hypertension is a common cardiovascular condition primarily among the African American population. Many studies have asserted that single nucleotide polymorphisms contribute to an increased risk of hypertension. African Americans have been identified to have certain polymorphisms for hypertension susceptibility.

Purpose:  A key to any study is successful recruitment. The purpose of this report is to examine the most effective mechanism by which multiple generations of African American women are successfully recruited into a high blood pressure genetics study. 

Methods: These methods and sites included 1) use of a gerontology participant resource pool, 2) posting of flyers at a large university campus, 3) circulation of flyers at a historically black sorority, 4) recruitment via a mobile pediatric practice, and 5) use of close social networks of family and friends.

Results: We have successfully recruited 57 participants at this point. Thirty-six participants (63%) were recruited via close social networks of family friends. Approximately 15.8% were recruited from the historically black sorority, another 15.8% from individuals responding to flyers posted on the university campus and only 5.4% were obtained from the participant resource pool. No participants were recruited from the mobile pediatric practice. Implications: Although there have been some challenges in the past with obtaining entry and trust within the African American community for conducting healthcare related research it is important to investigate new and innovative methods for securing these samples. Alternatives to recruitment via the following yielded the best results in enrollment of three generations of African American women into a hypertension genetics study: 1)close social networks of family, friends, 2)historically black sorority and 3)use of flyer advertisement on a large university campus. Use of these methods may aid other researchers who seek to examine African American samples of multiple generations, women and genetic predisposition.

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