Objective: To identify unique cultural variables for African Americans that might limit the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in clinical trials.
Design: Focus group discussions lasting 90 minutes.
Setting: Outpatient, clinical research center.
Patients: Twenty-six African-American men and women, who completed the screening process but were ineligible for the PREMIER study, participated in six focus group sessions. PREMIER is a multicenter, randomized clinical trial that studies the effects of three different lifestyle interventions designed to reduce blood pressure without medication.
Measurements And Main Results: Participants used a value sort of cultural characteristics to select items that make them unique as African Americans. The following seven themes were consistently identified: 1) extensive use of nontraditional support systems; 2) general mistrust of European Americans; 3) African Americans' being undervalued as human beings and members of American society; 4) effective use of improvisation; 5) uneven playing field as a result of persistent discrimination; 6) preservation of a unique ethnic identity; 7) socioeconomic status as a major influence and predictor of behaviors.
Conclusions: Cultural variables can affect African-American perceptions of the feasibility of certain behavior modifications as health interventions and their perceptions of clinical research. Using these themes, investigators can design trials and interventions that capitalize on certain cultural variables and avoid strategies that conflict with others. The identification of such cultural characteristics unique to African Americans may help to enhance the outcomes achieved by African Americans in clinical trials, improving the generalizability of results from behavior modification research.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Importance: Determining spectacle-corrected visual acuity (VA) is essential when managing many ophthalmic diseases. If artificial intelligence (AI) evaluations of macular images estimated this VA from a fundus image, AI might provide spectacle-corrected VA without technician costs, reduce visit time, or facilitate home monitoring of VA from fundus images obtained outside of the clinic.
Objective: To estimate spectacle-corrected VA measured on a standard eye chart among patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) in clinical practice settings using previously validated AI algorithms evaluating best-corrected VA from fundus photographs in eyes with DME.
Fam Community Health
January 2025
Author Affiliations: School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia (Dr Tran, Mr Menyongai, Mss Foster, Scheib, and Allen, Drs Spears, Stauber, Owen-Smith, Weaver, and Huang, Prof Arias, Drs Cormier and Popova); Live Health DeKalb Coalition, Georgia (Ms Graham); Urban Studies Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia (Dr Li); and Perimeter College, Georgia State University, Clarkston, Georgia (Drs Dolan and Lynch).
Background And Objectives: This qualitative study explored perceived community strengths and health issues among 3 underserved and under-studied populations in the Atlanta, Georgia-older adults, Black or African American persons, and refugees/immigrants/migrants.
Methods: Eight focus groups were conducted with 92 participants who were members of the 3 populations in Atlanta between November 2022 and March 2023.
Results: Although there were variations among groups, all groups emphasized diversity within their community as the foundation of community strength.
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston.
Importance: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black women is a critical public health concern, potentially exacerbating existing health disparities and impacting community-wide vaccination efforts.
Objective: To explore the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black women in the US and identify the specific concerns and experiences shaping hesitant attitudes toward vaccination.
Design, Setting, And Participants: Qualitative study using in-depth, semistructured interviews conducted virtually between June and November 2021.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities
January 2025
Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
African Americans (AAs) with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) experience significant barriers to accessing living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT), largely due to individual and systemic factors, including a lack of trust in healthcare systems resulting from a legacy of and continued experiences with medical racism. This cross-sectional study analyzed survey data from 416 AA patients with ESKD undergoing transplant evaluation in 2019-2023 at two kidney transplant centers in the Southeast United States, examining whether trust (specifically trust in kidney doctors, hospitals, and healthcare) modifies the relationship between attitudes towards LDKT and behavioral intentions to discuss LDKT with family and friends. Multivariable analyses revealed significant interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
University of California, Los Angeles Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Background: APOE is in linkage disequilibrium with the length of poly-T repeats at the rs10524523 ('523) locus of the TOMM40 gene. APOE-ε3 is associated with short (S) and (VL) variants of '523 in white and Black individuals. In white individuals, APOE-ε4 is associated with the long (L) '523 variant, but is associated with '523-S, '523-L, and '523-VL variants in Black individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!