Familism, respect for authority, and a sense of shame/pride are cultural characteristics that might influence research participation of Asian Americans. We compared 79 elderly Asian immigrants, most of whom immigrated from China or Hong Kong, with 58 elders who were not Asian and mostly not immigrants. Responding to hypothetical situations presented on a self-administered questionnaire, the Asian group professed to be more likely to be influenced by a request from a son/daughter, landlord, physician, or advertisement (p < 0.001) and by a monetary incentive (p = 0.05). Multivariate adjustment for potential confounders attenuated the strength of these relations, but except in the case of the monetary offer, differences remained statistically significant. Within the Asian group, multivariate logistic regression modeling indicated that years lived in the US was associated with more likelihood of refusing requests to participate in research. We conclude that acculturation or assimilation into American society may build resistance to pressure to participate in research. Our findings also suggest that elderly Asian immigrants may need additional protections to achieve truly informed consent. © 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.

Language and research Chinese Elderly Ethics Immigration

vulnerable population China immigrant multivariate logistic regression analysis human middle aged controlled study medical ethics priority journal research subject Aged Research Subjects Logistic Models refusal to participate persuasive communication statistical significance informed consent United States Humans Asian Americans male Asian American female social problem questionnaire cultural factor Article Family Relations Questionnaires Hong Kong Cultural Characteristics attitude to health elderly care health survey