UC San Diego

BACKGROUND: Latino populations remain vastly underrepresented in clinical and translational research. This study aims to characterize the most common sources of successful participant engagement within our sample. METHODS: Between February 2022 and March 2023, research staff systematically recorded how participants learned about an ongoing study (which we term source of successful participant engagement) designed to co-create and implement a COVID-19 testing program in a U.S./Mexico border community. Demographic characteristics were correlated with each source of participant engagement at the univariate level using a chi-squared test and, if significant, were included in a multinomial logistic regression model to determine the association between participant characteristics and source of participant engagement. RESULTS: A total of 2836 individuals responded to questions regarding source of participant engagement; the most common responses were: Word of Mouth (32%), Clinic/Provider referral (32%), and Walk Up to the testing site (21%). Males were 35% less likely than female participants to report having heard of the study through their Clinic/Provider compared to Walk Up (p < .01). Participants <18 years of age were 2.78 times as likely compared to individuals >54 years of age to have learned about the study through Word of Mouth compared to Walk Up (p < .01). Compared to Walk Up, participants who lived outside San Ysidro were 2.36 times more likely to be recruited through their Clinic/Provider (p < .01) and 2.11 times more likely through Word of Mouth (p < .01), compared those in San Ysidro. Education and clinical symptoms were not significantly associated with engagement source. CONCLUSION: Advancing our understanding of sources of successful participant engagement in marginalized communities is necessary to increase equitable participation in clinical and translational research.