Asian Americans are less likely than white people to take part in medical research that involves magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Dealing with this hesitancy could improve research, according to study findings published Friday in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
The report included a survey of 256 people about their views on MRI brain imaging scans as well as their attitudes about participating in research. There were 77 people who were South Asian and 84 people who were East Asian. Data from them was compared to surveys collected from 95 white, Black and Hispanic older adults.
South Asian older adults over the age of 65 are less likely than older white adults to think that healthy people should participate in research studies if there’s no health benefit, the authors found. South Asian and East Asian older adults have less desire to learn about findings from MRI scans compared to older adults who are white.
“Addressing hesitancy toward participation may improve representation of a group that does not usually take part in research studies,” Karthik Kota, an assistant professor of medicine and a geriatrician at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and lead author of the study, said in a statement.
Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, and the fastest-growing group of adults over 65. According to the researchers, the findings show it’s important to separate different Asian American subgroups when conducting medical research to better understand the unique attitudes of groups.
“Understanding concerns older Asian adults have about MRI brain findings could allow for more culturally appropriate return of scan results,” Kota said. “Progress in this area will not only affect how researchers recruit for studies, but also the expectations that the public may have when interacting with researchers.”
