Preferred Consent Models for Secondary Uses of Biospecimens Among Diverse Women

Overview

Research with stored biospecimens can provide substantial societal benefits, including greater understanding of cancer etiology and discovery of new cancer therapies, but one critical social and ethical issue is the use of samples for research unplanned at the time of biospecimen collection. Various models for consent (i.e., no consent, notice, opt-out, broad consent, study-specific consent) have been proposed for secondary research use of biospecimens, but empirical data on individuals' preferences for different consent models are limited, particularly from those with limited health literacy and from racial and ethnic minority groups. It is critically important to understand the consent preferences of diverse individuals, as participation of all population subgroups in biobanks is essential to reach translational cancer research goals. Based on a social ecological conceptual framework, the investigators will examine preferences for consent models for secondary research uses of biospecimens among a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of women 35 years of age and older. The investigators aim to compare experimentally the effect of consent model on intentions to donate biospecimens for future research use among a diverse sample of women. The investigators hypothesize that women will have stronger intentions to donate based on the broad model of consent and the study-specific model of consent compared with the notice model of consent. These findings from groups underrepresented in research will be critical since the participation of these groups in biobanks is essential to generating findings that will achieve translational research goals of eliminating cancer disparities.