A team led by a professor at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University has developed guidelines designed to improve efforts to involve transgender people in research studies.
Recruitment of transgender participants can be difficult because they may be reluctant to answer questions about their gender identity and because they make up a relatively small percentage of the overall population, the researchers noted. Evidence also suggests that many transgender people report having negative experiences with healthcare and health-related research in the past, which might make them hesitant to participate in the next study.
Dr. Ashli Owen-Smith
“Although transgender people may be at increased risk for a range of physical and mental health problems, they have been the subject of relatively little health research,” the study said. “Identifying and addressing barriers, as well as understanding what motivates participation can aid researchers in their efforts to more effectively recruit and retain transgender individuals in health research going forward.”
The team recommended:
- Researchers should include a variety of recruitment methods, including social media and in-person approaches, to maximize opportunities to identify hard-to-reach subgroups, such as homeless or low-income transgender individuals;
- Researchers should try to involve transgender research staff in the recruitment process;
- Researchers need to be mindful about how they promote their research so that participants’ privacy is protected;
- Researchers should maximize accessibility by holding research sessions at easy-to-reach locations, such as near public transportation, and at convenient times;
- Researchers should offer incentives including free transportation, free food or clinical services, and compensation for participants’ time;
- Researchers should be transparent and thorough when explaining the purpose of their research and share the findings of the study with participants at the conclusion to further build trust.
The results and recommendations are published in Transgender Health in the article “Perceptions of Barriers to and Facilitators of Participation in Health Research Among Transgender People.” The study’s lead author is Dr. Ashli Owen-Smith, assistant professor of health management and policy at Georgia State’s School of Public Health.
To guide their recommendations, researchers analyzed data from 67 transgender individuals who participated in one of 12 focus groups, half conducted in San Francisco and half in Atlanta. During the group meetings, participants answered questions about perceived health and health care issues, sources and perceived quality of information about health and health care, and barriers or incentives to participate in research.
The study’s authors also included Cory Woodyatt, R. Craig Sineath, Dr. Michael Goodman, and La Tasha Barnwell with Emory University; Enid M. Hunkeler with Kaiser Permanente; Ashley Graham with the University of Connecticut; and Dr. Rob Stephenson with the University of Michigan.