Levels of Participants Satisfaction with Initial Contact and Examination Visit: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL).

OBJECTIVE

This study examined perceived satisfaction among Hispanic/Latino individuals who participated in a baseline examination for the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), a large cohort study of 16,415 adults living in four selected communities.

METHOD

An estimated 22% (n= 3,584) of participants completed a questionnaire regarding satisfaction with staff attention, the overall experience during the study examination, and the influence of the informed consent digital video disc (DVD).

RESULTS

The majority of participants who completed the questionnaire expressed overall satisfaction with the study. Most participants reported that staff were friendly, courteous and respectful and study test procedures were clearly explained. Participants who preferred to complete the interview in Spanish felt that the informed consent DVD positively influenced their ability to make an informed decision to enroll in the study. Participants who preferred to complete the interview in English tended to report that the baseline examination was longer than expected compared with participants who completed the interview in Spanish.

CONCLUSION

Results demonstrate that culturally and linguistically trained staff and the use of the study's informed consent DVD were effective in explaining study procedures and positively influenced decisions to participate in the HCHS/SOL study. These results can inform recruitment and enrollment strategies for future participation of minority groups into longitudinal cohort studies.