Knowledge, Awareness, and Interest in Cancer Clinical Trials among Rural Latinos Following Brief Education by Promotores de Salud

Abstract

Background: Promotores have been widely used for health promotion in underserved Latino communities and are increasingly being partnered with throughout the country to enhance health care access when there are cultural and economic barriers to care. A community network approach using Promotores de Salud may be a useful strategy for increasing overall knowledge and participation of Latinos in clinical trials. Objective: To assess knowledge, attitudes, and interest related to participating in cancer clinical trials among rural Latinos following receipt of a brief community-based cancer research educational session delivered by previously trained promotores de salud. Methods: Trained promotores de salud conducted 10-15 minute one-to-one educational sessions with Latinos. Participants completed a pre-post assessment on knowledge, attitudes and interest in participating in clinical trials. Results: Over a period of two months, five trained promotores recruited and delivered a single educational session with 228 Latinos. At baseline, 68% of participants had heard about clinical trials, but only 5% had participated in one. Compared to baseline, after training, participants increased significantly their positive views of clinical trials, trust in medical researchers, and belief in general safety of clinical research (p<0.001). Interest in participating in cancer clinical trials increased from 68% to 79% (p<.001). Providing bio-specimens for research purposes (p<0.001) also increased significantly. Conclusion: Use of Promotores de Salud to conduct community-based clinical trials education is a promising approach to promote widespread community participation in cancer clinical trials available to ethnic and racial underserved populations.