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Table 4 Influencing factors and motivators to research participation and barriers to retention among PWUD: gender differences

From: A cross-sectional survey of potential factors, motivations, and barriers influencing research participation and retention among people who use drugs in the rural USA

Survey item

Male (n = 137)

Female (n = 116)

Prevalence ratioa,b

95% CI

Selected

Not selected

Selected

Not selected

Influencing factors

 What the research study involves (e.g., survey, drug testing for research)

100

37

81

35

0.98

(0.84, 1.15)

 How much time is required

87

50

72

44

1.02

(0.85, 1.23)

 How often they have to come in for visits

78

59

61

55

0.98

(0.78, 1.22)

 How far they have to travel to participate (i.e., nearby vs. out of town)

85

52

76

40

1.09

(0.90, 1.31)

 Privacy of the research office

92

45

81

35

1.18

(0.70, 2.01)

 Why their information is being collected and what it will be used for

86

49

77

39

1.09

(0.91, 1.31)

 Whether their information will be kept confidential

97

40

92

24

1.15

(0.99, 1.32)

 Whether the staff doing the research is friendly and trustworthy

102

35

87

29

1.03

(0.89, 1.19)

 Whether the research institution or university is respected

65

72

57

59

1.05

(0.81, 1.36)

 Whether they can skip questions of parts of the study that make them uncomfortable

70

67

77

39

1.34*

(1.09, 1.65)

 How much money they will receive

99

38

82

34

1.01

(0.87, 1.18)

 How much the project will benefit them overall

81

56

77

39

1.14

(0.94, 1.38)

 Whether their appointment times will interfere with their work schedule

64

73

45

71

0.84

(0.63, 1.13)

 Whether they have childcare so that they can attend their appointments

66

71

59

57

1.07

(0.83, 1.38)

 How their friends, family, or partner feels about them participating

68

69

45

71

0.79

(0.60, 1.05)

Motivations

 Financial incentive (i.e., money or gift card given for participation)

110

27

100

16

1.10

(0.99, 1.23)

 They believe in the mission of the research and want to contribute

86

51

71

45

0.99

(0.81, 1.20)

 Their friends, family, or partner participates

89

48

72

44

0.98

(0.82, 1.19)

 They want to tell their story

77

60

62

54

0.96

(0.77, 1.21)

 They know someone on the research team and want to help them out

36

101

45

71

1.57*

(1.09, 2.26)

 They want to learn about the topic

73

64

56

60

0.94

(0.74, 1.20)

 They would want to get free testing (for example, rapid tests for HIV & Hepatitis C) if it was offered as part of the study

93

44

79

37

1.03

(0.87, 1.22)

 They would want to be linked with resources and/or follow-up testing if it was offered as part of the study

93

44

78

38

1.02

(0.86, 1.21)

 They would want to try a new treatment if it was offered as part of the study

93

44

79

37

1.03

(0.87, 1.22)

 Their friends, family, or partner pressures them to participate so that they can share the financial incentive

50

87

35

81

0.84

(0.59, 1.20)

Barriers

 Not being able to get in touch with participants because their contact information changed

111

26

94

22

1.03

(0.91, 1.16)

 Not being able to get in touch with participants because they gave false contact information when they started the study

76

61

69

47

1.11

(0.90, 1.37)

 They may have trouble getting transportation for their appointments

97

40

89

27

1.12

(0.96, 1.30)

 They may have trouble being able to show up at a specific appointment time

94

43

85

31

1.09

(0.93, 1.28)

 They may have trouble getting to their appointment because of their work schedule

66

71

55

61

1.03

(0.79, 1.33)

 They may have trouble finding childcare so that they can go to their appointment

62

75

65

51

1.26

(0.98, 1.61)

 They may have concerns about confidentiality and privacy

70

67

62

54

1.08

(0.86, 1.37)

 They may be afraid that the staff would judge them if they are still using drugs

60

77

56

60

1.15

(0.88, 1.50)

 They may have stopped using drugs and no longer think the study is relevant to them

63

74

57

59

1.11

(0.86, 1.44)

 They are in a drug treatment or recovery facility and are unable to be contacted by research staff

81

56

65

51

0.98

(0.79, 1.21)

 Their friends, family, or partner may want them to stop participating

38

99

39

77

1.23

(0.85, 1.79)

  1. aMale is the referent group
  2. bThe level of response for each survey item was dichotomized into “selected” or “not selected” to generate prevalence ratios
  3. *Significant at α = 0.05 level