The problem that the study was conducted to resolve is the under-representation of Latinos in HIV/AIDS medical research despite their over-representation in AIDS prevalence and HIV incidence in the U. S. (Brook, 2007). Latinos remain to be under-represented in HIV vaccine trials despite the guidelines being issued by the National Institutes of Health (2003) requiring inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities and women in research studies.
(Brook, 2007). For example, in a study, Latinos living with HIV/AIDS have been under-represented in clinical trials of HIV medications and have had limited access to experimental medications as stated in the given journal article. (Brook, 2007). Accordingly, “Latino participation in HIV vaccine trials conducted in the U. S. has also been limited. ” (Brook, 2007).
This is an important problem for nursing to study because HIV vaccine treatment outcomes may differ in its efficacy and may be affected by the differences in responses in every racial and ethnic groups particularly the Latinos which at present constitute 19% of persons living with AIDS/HIV in the U. S. and comprising 14% of the population (now the largest ethnic minority group in the U. S. ) (Brook, 2007). The study findings can then be further evaluated by the nursing practice especially if the results are found to be valid. B. Study Purpose
The purpose of the study is to explore concerns and motivators regarding the participation in the HIV vaccine trials among Spanish-speaking Latinos to determine what are the major reasons why they are reluctant to participate in such trials despite being the most disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. (Brook, 2007) After determining the specific concerns and motivators further interventions to facilitate their participation should be addressed to ensure that their under-representation in future HIV or other medical researches should be avoided. C.
Research Question The research question is not directly stated; however, if I am the one who is going to formulate the research question it would be, “What are the concerns, motivators and intentions of Spanish-speaking Latinos in the U. S. in regards to participation in HIV vaccine trials? ” For the above formulated research question, I can say that it is broad enough with a holistic perspective seeking or exploring answers for the clinical problem and trying to interpret things with deeper sense of truth, understanding and meaning for a qualitative study.
(Greenhalgh, 1997) D. Study Design The qualitative used in this study is in depth focus group interview. This method is appropriate in this qualitative study because a focus group interview allows the researchers to use the group interactions during the actual focus group questions and probes being elicited from the participants while answering interview guides to generate data such as concerns, motivations and intentions regarding participation in a preventative HIV vaccine trial.
(Greenhalgh, 1997) E. Subjects and Setting The participants in this study were recruited from two-community-based healthcare settings in Los Angeles that serve primarily Latinos which I think is appropriate and the recruitment process justified because what the researches wished to study are those Spanish-speaking Latinos in the U. S. (Greenhalgh, 1997) Three focus groups were conducted with around 7-13 participants per group and a total number of 32 subjects.
All the participants are Spanish-speaking Latinos with ages 18 and above and all of them received $30 incentive prior to the study. I considered this sample size as inadequate with a limited number of participants and the setting in which the data were collected is also not appropriate because it cannot represent nor generalize to a larger Latino population in the Los Angeles area nor among Latino communities across the U. S.